Immortally Yours
by mondas42
Summary: RE-POSTED! AU - Set during the final book. Harry and Hermione finally admit there love to each other but this has grave and far reaching consequences. It seems that there friend Ron is not all he seems and they face a enemy far more powerful than Voldemort - Oh and he still needs sorting out as well.
1. Chapter 1

**AN - I have finally decided to re-list this after it was taken down due adult content in a M Rated story - Who'd of thought it eh? This is a Lite version of the story with some of the more explicit content cut or reworked. Hope it meets with everyone's approval. The whole story is written and will take as long as it takes me to re-write the sections and post them in order to publish.**

 **Chapter One - A Break from what must be.**

Somewhere deep in the English countryside a small white tent was pitched in an empty part of the forest. To the casual observer the tent was invisible but to those that knew how to see such things, clear signs of a campsite could be seen. Inside the tent, remarkably much bigger on the inside, two young people were dancing to a slow piece of music playing on an odd looking radio. There was an air of sadness about the couple and they slowly swayed to the music.

Hermione Granger rested her head on the shoulders of the taller boy and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. She was very confused about things, she had thought that she was in love with another absent boy but now she wasn't even sure about that. Ron had left them in a fit of anger and temper that was all too common with the red-haired teen. He had said horrible things about her and Harry before leaving and these had hurt her terribly. At first she had felt immense sadness and loss in his leaving, so sure was she in her love for him but as the days passed she began to re-consider her feelings. This had culminated in Harry's amusing attempt to cheer her up by asking her to dance with him. As she had been held by him in his strong arms she had thought about all the times that Ron had hurt her, either with a mis-thought deed or more commonly with a thoughtless and hasty word. She had forgotten the amount of times that he had reduced her to tears and she had to question, was this the act of someone who she was supposed to love and love her in return? As she danced her thoughts turned to the raven haired boy in her arms. The more she thought about him the more she realized that he had never intentionally hurt her, either through deed or words. He had saved her life more times than she had cared to mention, and had asked for nothing in return. As they swayed around the tent, the small box of emotions she had carefully hid away at the back of her psych burst forth. With clarity of thought she didn't thinks possible she realized that she loved Harry, not Ron. In fact she had always loved Harry with a deep overwhelming love that made her feel giddy from the sudden burst of emotions. This had of course left her with a major problem – what was she going to do about it? She did not want to jeopardize her friendship with Harry, that was far more important than anything else and besides, she knew that Harry loved Ginny. She would have to bury her feeling deep once more and live the life that she knew was in front of her. A loveless marriage to Ronald Weasley.

 _Deep in the forest, a dark evil creature smiled in triumph at the emotions it was feeling from the tent. Yes this was all going to plan._

Harry was in heaven. He was dancing with Hermione and she was in his arms. He could smell the warm fruity smell that her hair gave off and it made him go weak at the knees. He knew he loved her, he had loved her since the first moment he met her on the Hogwarts Express all those years ago. He hated himself for been too scared to act upon his feeling, and now he knew he had lost her to Ron. Sure he liked Ginny and over time he was sure that it would grow to something more, but she was a pale candle when compared to the burning light that was Hermione. He felt so conflicted, she was Ron's girl, even though the git had walked out on them. He knew that she would forgive him and that she was only with him because she had promised to help him, and Hermione never broke a promise. However the feel of her in his arm, the scent of her hair and the steady feel of her heart beating against his chest made him regret his decency. It would be so easy to sweep her into his arms and kiss those lips that he dreamt about, but he knew that she would not return the feelings –she was Ron's girl.

 _In the forest, the 'thing' licked its lips in anticipation. This was the culmination of years of work and it would all come to fruition tonight. It was dizzy with the anticipation of the years of feeding it would get from this pair._

The song had stopped and the radio was now playing out some news. However for the couple stood looking at one another time had stopped. For Hermione she had realized that the moment, the glorious moment was over and that she had to lock her feelings away. For Harry, he was having a moment of absolute clarity. He could see the future as it was mapped out for him. He would let Hermione go and they would go back to bed. Ron would return and after some cross words she would be back with him. They would find all the Horcrux's and eventually defeat Voldemort. He would marry Ginny and have kids; she would marry Ron and have her kids. To the outside observer life would appear perfect, but Harry knew that would be a lie. In his heart he would be dying a little every day without her. The path was clear and his role in life mapped out for him. In fact he had subconsciously started to relax his grip on her and let her return to the correct life fate had lined them up for. Suddenly, without any warning something changed for Harry, something that was unexpected and that would alter the course of history forever. His grip that had begun to loosen its hold on her waist suddenly tightened again. She looked up at him in surprise. Her lips parted in a question, but before she had time to ask it, Harry acted. Without thought or care for the consequences, he brought his face down to hers and kissed her lips hard. Hermione reacted a few seconds later and with a passion she didn't know she possessed she returned the kiss….hard, very hard. She brushed her tongue against his lips and he instinctively opened them. She darted her tongue deep into his mouth and relished the feeling of their two tongues wrapping themselves around each other.

Hermione knew that Harry would stop at kissing, he was too dam noble, but she wanted - needed more and she knew that if THIS moment passed then time would move back to the correct tracks. She had to take action and she was never more certain of anything in her life as she was now. This was the time to act, so even though she was still passionately kissing him she moved them slowly backward to the small bed in the corner. When they got to the foot of the bed, she pushed him backwards and he landed on the bed with a thump. He looked up at her in shock. She smiled at him and practically ripped off her blouse. She hadn't put on a bra that evening, and so she was stood over him naked from the waist up. Harry looked up at Hermione, her chest heaving with anticipation. Her breasts were larger than he thought but were very pert and her nipples were erect. She had the most lustful look in her eyes, her chocolate brown eyes, turned smoky with the thoughts she was having. She grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head and stood for a few seconds over him before she lay down of top of him and captured his lips once more.

 _Deep in the forest, unheard by any living soul, the creature screamed in pain and anger. This was not how it was supposed to be! She belonged to him, and HE would be left in a loveless marriage. This was how things were supposed to happen, it was all planned. Nearly seven years of work had led up to this moment. Well if it wasn't going to be, then it would just have to make sure that he got the quick fix. The creature summoned a large black ugly knife and slowly moved back towards the tent. There would be food tonight, not the long trickle of emotion it had wanted, but a vast feast all in one go. Ronald Weasley was coming home to eat._

Harry was in rapture. He had found his way down to Hermione's breast and was currently teasing her nipple with his tongue, whilst his other hand was gently fondling her other breast. Hermione was moaning in ecstasy as she kissed along his neck and jaw line. She had never felt feeling like this before and was loving every moment of it. After a while her hands found his waistband on his jeans and she clumsily managed to open the top of them. She managed to shuffle the tops of his jeans down and gently put her hand into his boxer to hold him. She gently moved her hands and was even more aroused by the moans that Harry was now making. She gently managed to disentangle herself from him and with a smile she moved closer to his abdomen kissing her way down as she went _._ Whilst she had never been with a man before she had read all about sex, as a good student should. She gently brought her head further down, pleased as she felt Harry stiffened in pleasure at this and grabbed her head in his hands; he moaned her name in a whisper. Feeling his reaction gave Hermione more courage and she became bolder and bolder. Harry was practically pulling her hair out, but this made her even more passionate. After a while she felt Harry's body stiffen, "Hermione, I'm going to... you'd better stop."

Hermione shook her head and Harry groaned loudly. Soon however Harry was laid back with an odd dreamy smile on his face and he gently massaged her hair. Hermione felt immensely pleased with herself for been able to bring such pleasure to her secret love. she laid contentedly with her head resting on his naked stomach. After a little while however, Harry decided that it was Hermione's time for some pleasure and he suddenly Hermione found herself flipped over onto her back. Harry started to kiss her neck and shoulders, and slowly began to move down to her breasts. He lingered here for a while before moving down to her stomach. He swirled his tongue around her belly button making her giggle at the sensation. His hands moved to the top of her jeans but before he unfastened them he looked up at Hermione with an unspoken question in them. She nodded her approval, and he slowly removed her jeans. She was laid completely naked apart from a small pair of white knickers, and harry began to kiss the tops of her thighs, slowly tracing kisses along the line of her underwear.

"Harry please!" Hermione begged, and Harry smiled at her. He very gently removed her knickers to expose the soft mound of her brown curls. Repositioning himself between her, he gently spread her legs and began once more to kiss her thighs, each time getting closer and closer to his ultimate goal. Hermione was loving the sensations but was getting more and more frustrated with him, but she didn't have much longer to wait as he began to kiss her in the place she had never been kissed before. Harry ran his tongue up and down her, relishing in the taste of her. He continued in such a fashion for a few minutes until he felt Hermione to grab his head with her hands and moan loudly. Taking this as good sign he began to tease her with his tongue more quickly, darting his tongue all around her most intimate parts. He gently slid a couple of fingers into her depths and could feel her getting close to her climax. With a sudden shudder, she shouted his name and arched her back in pleasure, as she hit her climax. Harry however wasn't finished and after a short pause, he carried on with his ministrations, bringing her to a quick second climax.

"Sweet Merlin Harry, I love you so much and I love what you are doing to me, but…."

Harry's head suddenly popped up to look at her, "You love me?"

She smiled down at him , "Off course I love you, I've loved you for years now. You don't think that I'd let a man I didn't love do what you just did to me do you?"

Harry grinned and shook his head.

"Anyway as I was saying, as much as I love what you are doing, if you don't make love to me now I'm going to go nuts."

"Are you sure? I heard it can hurt a woman for the first time, and I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't worry my love, I know for a fact you won't hurt me"

Harry looked at her a little oddly, and a little hurt by this. Hermione quickly realized what he was thinking.

"Don't worry about that, You are my first, but you don't get to be a seventeen year old girl without experimenting a little, and Muggles make a wonderful item that runs off batteries."

"What?"

"Don't worry, I'll show you later, now stop talking and make love to me!"

Harry grinned, and positioned himself between her legs. He was by now hard again and placed himself at the entrance of her, but before going any further he suddenly thought of something.

"Mione, don't you need to cast a spell?"

"Bugger! Pass me my wand." Harry passed the wand to her, and she cast the contraception spell over her womb.

"Now Harry, I need you now" she whispered in a husky voice, throwing her wand away in careless abandon.

Harry gently but firmly entered her, loving the feel of her warm folds, wrapping herself around him. He buried himself in her until he was up to the hilt, and looked at her. She was biting her bottom lip in pleasure and he gently eased out and back in. Quickly he built up a slow rhythm, all the while holding himself above her, the years of Quidditch training finally paying off for something. He moved down to kiss her, and she opened her mouth to him. Hermione could taste herself on him and this drove her wild.

"Harder Harry, Harder!"

Harry, not one to dis-obey such delightful orders, carried out her instructions, and soon he was moving as fast as he dared. Hermione had wrapped her legs around his, her feet almost touching his bum. He could feel himself coming close to his climax, but wanted to hold off for her. However Hermione was close too and she suddenly raked her fingers down his back, her nails drawing blood. This made him hiss in pain and pleasure, arching his back and forcing himself deeper into her. This was too much for either of them, and they both climaxed at the same time. She screamed his name, and her eyes rolled back into her head. She stopped breathing, and one hand gripped the bed cloths so hard that they ripped. The other hand was spasming uncontrollably, hitting Harry on the side. With a sudden rush of breath, she opened her eyes and screamed once more.

"DEAR GOD! FUCK!"

Harry was still arching his back, slightly alarmed by the power of his lovers climax, but when she smiled up at him he gently lowered himself to kiss her slowly. Pulling himself out of her, he lay next to her and took her in his arms.

"Don't you dare go to sleep; I want to do that again very soon." Hermione warned. Harry smirked back at her, shocked at the change in her usual serious demeanour.

"Hermione, I wasn't going to sleep, at least not yet. That's was awesome, and I need to tell you that I love you as well. I have since we first met all those years ago."

Tears filled her eyes as she heard him say this to her. He loved her. In all of her wildest dreams this was more than she could have asked for. She once more claimed his mouth with hers and kissed him with renewed passion. As they kissed they both felt a cool wind hit them and they were suddenly aware that they were no longer alone. They both whipped round to look at the tent entrance and were shocked to see Ron stood there with a cruel looking black knife in his hand. He had a sneer on his face and his expression was one of extreme hate. What was the most horrifying were his eyes. They were totally black, not a hint of white was seen.

"Well look at what we have here, a bastard and a slut. You were meant to be mine and you were meant for my slut of a 'sister'. I worked for years to achieve this and you two have ruined it for me. I could have fed on your resentment and missed love for decades but you had to go and ruin my plans.

"Ron mate!, what are you talking about?" Harry asked in horror.

"Ron? Ha! that idiotic wimp. I'm sorry but Ron doesn't live here anymore. He died seven years ago before he even met you two, when I took over his body. Oh he fought, and he fought hard but in the end I won. I always do and his fear tasted delicious. But I was so hungry, and you two were going to feed me for years. Oh well, I guess I will just have to have one big meal today."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the thing that looked like Ron, swept across the room and before Harry could react, he found the cold black blade stuck in his stomach, the tip pointing up towards his heart. He gasped in sudden pain and shock as all the strength left him. He was dimly aware of Hermione screaming as he looked into the black eyes in front of him. With a laugh the creature threw Harry off the blade and across the room. Harry landed in a heap on the floor, blood pooling quickly around him. The creature then turned to the now hysterical Hermione and bodily lifted her by her throat.

"Well don't you squeal like an old sow, and you know what we all do with sows don't you. We gut them!"

And with no warning he drew the still bloody knife and slit it across her throat. The blood spurted from her neck and bathed him in it. With a laugh, he threw her over to the nearly unconscious Harry.

"Here you go, say goodbye to your girlfriend."

Harry managed to crawl to her, but when he got to her he could see it was too late, her eyes were wide open in terror, but glassy and unseeing.

"No! Hermione please no!"

"Too late Harry! And you will be joining her within a few seconds. Your fear and terror were so tasty."

The thing that looked like his best friend walked over to the pair and spat on them. "See you…oh no, you're dead. Bye-bye!" and it walked out of the tent humming a happy tune to itself.

Harry had managed to hold Hermione head and as his vision started to darken; his last conscious thought was how much he loved the dead girl in his arms.

As the two bodies lay in the increasing circle of blood, a blood curdling scream could be heard and a black mist rose from the scar on Harry's forehead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two – Rebirth**

Dawn broke slowly over the forest. The weak sunlight crawled over the tree-tops and cast its feeble light over the tent. The tent was now visible to all, the charms cast over the area broken due to the death of the casters; however the forest was silent and empty. Not a living soul was present to witness the horror that lay within the canvas. Within the confines of the dwelling, the two bodies lay, unmoving. The tent was covered in the blood of Hermione, evident of the pressure she was under when her throat was cut. On the floor was a large pool of dried and blackened blood, a mixture of hers and his, enveloping the bodies like an evil halo. Both teens' eyes were wide and open but unseeing, Harry's once glorious green eyes now turning a milky white. Hermione's eyes had also taken on a milky hue, and her face was covered in her blood, now turning black. The gaping wound on her throat open and now drained. Both teens were a white-blue colour from loss of blood.

For a long while all was still, the only sound was that of the birds in the tree-tops unaware of the tragedy below.

As the sun slowly began its never ending journey across the sky, a bright light began to build within the tent. This grew brighter and brighter and slowly began to take the shape of an old man. Once whole, the light dimmed until only a soft glow surrounded the figure. The being looked around the room with a sad expression on its face.

"No, this is not right. This will not do at all!" he muttered to himself. This creature of light had no real name, but over the eons he had taken human form many times and walked amongst the populace as one of them. He had taken on many names in many different planes of reality. In one plane, he had been known as Gandalf the Grey, then White before moving on. In another he still operated at Belgarath, the Eternal man. In this particular plane of existence he had taken many names over the centuries. He was once known as Merlin, and then Godric Griffindor. He chucked as he remembered he once took the name of 'no one', a joke played upon him earning him the name Nevyn. His most recent form was that of the Headmaster of a magical school. He had enjoyed that one, but the Gods of Time, had decided that it was time for him to move on and he had left this existence. However he had been summoned back by the Gods, because time had been ripped. A grave injury had been cast upon what was meant to be, and as the universe champion he had been sent to sort it out. This had always been his role, sorting out the mess that the Gods allowed to happen, but couldn't be bothered to sort out themselves.

As he thought about the countless centuries that he had existed he wracked his brains for a solution to the problem that lay before him. These two shouldn't have died, at least not yet. They still had work to do but because of the work of the Dark one, that had all been ripped apart. Time was now injured, the ends of the continuum flaying around, broken. The creature of light knew that he could not just bring them back. Even if the Angel of Death was to release their souls, their bodies were still broken. They would die the instant they were re-born. No he had to come up with a cleverer solution than that. He searched through all the planes and dimensions that he had encountered, looking for a solution that would appease the Gods, and the Angel of Death. The Angel would not give up the two souls without a price, that was the way of things, and that was the way it should be. However there was always room for negation. The Angel liked a good bargain as much as any other of the entities did; the Angel was always fair but traded hard. He knew that he would have to come up with something that could entice the Angel into releasing the souls back to him and still keep the old coot happy.

As he trawled though his memories of the dimensions he had travelled to, he came across one minor plane. He had never existed in a corporal state in that one, but he remembered an interesting fact about it. He had come across a group of humans that had somehow become immortal. No one knew quite how this had come about, but the only way to kill one of them was to remove their head. They seemed to spend a large amount of time searching for one another and fighting with swords until one was victorious. They claimed they were doing this until only one was left and they could claim some mysterious prize. If questioned none of them knew what the prize was or what it would do to them but they seemed more than happy to maintain the fight. As he looked deeper he realized that the price of the immortality came with a curse, they were all infertile. This could be a problem but was also a solution. He found a pair of old immortals that against all the odds had fallen in love with one another. They were tired of the Game, and wanted nothing more than to have children and grow old with each other before dying together. This had potential, sure the infertility thing could be a problem, but there would be ways around that. He was not above cheating on occasion to achieve his goals. Without a second thought, part of his existence vanished only to reappear in the plane that these immortals existed. He wasn't going to force the change on anyone; that was not the way he worked. He sought out the pair, and explained everything to them. Very quickly they agreed to give up there immortality in order to have a normal mortal existence. Smiling he drew out there immortal essence and returned to the tent. Even thought this had taken days to achieve in the other plane, in this one no time had passed.

He was pleased with himself. This would solve all of the problems he faced. The Angel of Death would be getting two old and wise souls at the end of their days, along with the promise of more souls due to their ability to now have children. The pair in front of him would be more powerful than ever before due to their new immortality, everyone wins.

He took out the immortal essence that he carried and looked deep into the glowing ball on his palm. As he gazed he found the infertility curse and removed it. Satisfied with his work, he split the ball in two and blew on his palm. The two glowing balls slowly flew across the room, and each infused the pair of corpses in front of him. Off course nothing would happen yet, these things took time, and off course souls. After a quick negation with the Angel two glowing masses of light descended from…somewhere. They were both intertwined but eventually broke apart and gently landed on the bodies. Happy that things were now back on track, he was about to leave when two thoughts occurred to him. These two when they revived would need explanations and more knowledge. The former was easy enough, but the latter required some more cheating on his part. Checking that none of the Gods were looking, he put his hand to his head and withdrew some raw knowledge. He stood and examined the silver liquid in his hands.

"No, not that bit, too powerful….yes…and that bit…defiantly not that bit…..oh that will do."

He threw the liquid at the pair and watched with satisfaction as it seemed into them. Now for the explanations. He summoned his familiar from his last existence and watched as the golden phoenix flashed into being. The bird flew around the room and came to rest on one of the trunks in the room.

"Hello my old friend. I'm sorry for leaving you, but I have a new task for you. I need you to bond with these two and when they revive, explain a few things too them. Not everything, where would the fun be in that but enough so they don't go insane. You will need to tell them of their tasks, both the old one and the new one. It won't be easy for them but they have the power to complete it. Are you happy to do this for me?"

The bird sung its acceptance and bobbed its head at the glowing figure.

"Well now that that's done, I must be leaving. I will not be back in this plane for many centuries. Good luck my friend" and turning to the still corpses, "And good luck to you two."

With a sharp 'pop' he was gone, leaving the tent empty other than the phoenix and the two bodies. Fawkes silently stood vigil over his new charges, awaiting the re-birth that he knew was imminent.

As time passed nothing changed within the tent. A passing fox, alerted by the smell of fresh meat paid a visit but was soon seen off by the phoenix.

After an hour or so, finally something began to happen; slowly the wound on Hermione's neck silently sealed itself, the wound in Harry's chest also closed up. Both sets of eye's lost the milky-ness to them, returning to emerald green and chocolate brown. Without warning both teens suddenly took in a long breath and sat up. Hermione screamed in terror and Harry cried out in pain. Both looked around in total confusion. Harry crawled to his knees and vomited all over the floor. Hermione was fairing little better as she grasped at her throat, unaware that the wound had healed itself. She was opening and closing her mouth trying to form words but failing. Harry meanwhile had emptied his stomach, but was still dry heaving. He looked around and saw Hermione silently crying and he forced him stomach to calm and moved slowly over to her on his knees and embraced her. She clung to him like a dying child, her tears hot on his cold naked body.

Finally Hermione found her voice, although it was dry and raspy

"Harry, I died! I felt myself die. I couldn't stop him from hurting you and I felt myself die. I felt him slice my neck but its whole again."

"I know, I saw you dead in my arms and then I felt myself die as well. What the hell happened?"

"Ron! How could he do that to us?"

"I don't think that was Ron 'Mione. I'm not sure what it was but it wasn't the Ron we know."

Hermione started to cry again and Harry held her tighter, both unaware of their nakedness.

As they held each other, naked, cold and covered in each other's dry blood a voice spoke in their heads.

" _Keep calm please, all will be explained to you."_

The two young lovers whipped their heads around and spotted the phoenix sat on Harry's trunk.

"Fawkes? Is that you? How are you speaking to us?"

" _Yes it is me, and I am able to speak to you both because I have been asked to bond with you both. I will try to explain everything, but before I do so you may wish to wash and dress. You both have had a traumatic time but you will feel better soon."_

At this Harry and Hermione looked at one another and realised what the phoenix was referring to. Both were covered in dry black blood and Hermione's hair was stiff with it. Harry had lost his glasses and his face was smeared with her blood from where he held her. They both staggered to their feet and moved slowly to the shower. They took a long time to wash each other, taking it in turns to clean of the blood and grime from each other's body. They took to enjoyment from the contact, only the need to be clean. After washing they eventually found some clean clothes that had been spared the blood splashes that cover the interior of the tent and finally decided to sit outside as they could not face the sight of the blood. Hermione had found Harry's glasses and repaired and cleaned them for him and they were both sat arm in arm facing the phoenix. Harry was holding his wand, now broken in two after he landed on it when the creature had thrown him across the room. They both looked very pale but the wash and clean clothes had made them look more human. Hermione's face was still stained with tears as she struggled to come to terms with what had befallen them.

As they sat, holding each other close the phoenix began to talk to them in their heads.

" _Well as you two guessed, you both died yesterday. As far as I understand it the creature that you thought was Ron is a demon that feed of people's negative emotions- a physic Vampire if you like. It took over the body of your friend before he even met you, and had been manipulating you both into a situation where your love for each other would never be allowed to be. The pain you would both feel would have fed him for decades. However yesterday when Harry kissed you, you both changed all that. He decided to go for a quick fix and drank the emotions of your deaths."_

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in amazement, "Do you mean that we really both died?" Harry asked.

" _Oh yes, you were dead...very dead. That should have been it for you two, but the universe is a fickle mistress and you two were still needed to complete a few important tasks. It had to be you two and no one else. With you both dead, causality was damaged and something had to be done about it. That's why you were visited by someone."_

"Who? And how come we are now alive?" Hermione whispered.

" _Well the entity that visited you has no real name, but he is an eternal. That is a being of immense power that works for the Gods of Time. He has taken many forms over the eons, but the last one was that of my previous master."_

"Dumbledore!" Harry breathed.

" _Yes, although it's best not to think of him as that. He is much more than that one man. Anyway he needed to find a way to bring you back and to keep the Angel of Death happy. He does not like to be cheated out of souls. Anyway the entity is able to move amongst the many planes of existence, dimensions like ours. He found a place where there are some humans that have achieved immortality. Two of them had grown tired of that existence and were prepared to give it up for a mortal life. He took their immortal essence and transferred it to you. As of now you are both immortal, you will grow no older, and nor will any spell or weapon kill you for the most part. You will still feel pain and suffering and can be killed if you lose your head, we are not sure about the killing curse, best to avoid it if possible. You have also been given a boost to your magical power and some useful knowledge, but you will have to learn how to use it. You now both share a life energy. What one knows the other knows; what one feels the other feels. If one of you is decapitated and dies so will the other. You are both linked together for now and all eternity. It's a good job you both like each other"_ he said with mental smile. _"Any questions?"_

The two young people sat open mouthed. Words were not possible, their brains ringing with the words they had heard.

" _I take that 'as a not at the moment, but maybe later' sort of look. Call me when you need to speak more. I'll leave you both to come to terms with what you have been told."_ And with a flash the phoenix vanished, leaving two very shocked people behind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three – Coming to Terms.**

Neither spoke for a long while, both trying to assimilate the information they had been told, as well as deal with the raw emotions of the previous day's events. After a while Hermione turned to Harry.

"Harry...Harry!" Harry broke his thoughts and looked up at his new partner.

"Yeah?"

"What the FUCK was all that about?"

Despite everything Harry smirked at her use of profanity. Hermione didn't swear often but when she did, she did it well. Bizarrely it made him remember the previous night before things got violent. He suddenly found himself getting aroused at the memory. He mentally stopped himself; this was neither the time nor the place. Hermione was watching his expression as he gathered his thoughts. Despite all that had happened she was sure of one thing. She loved this man and she was never going to ever let him go. She was also thinking back to the previous night. It had awakened something deep inside her. She had experimented with masturbation before but the feelings she had experienced with her own experimentation were nothing compared to the feeling she had experienced with Harry. She just hoped that Harry would like to do it again with her sometime.

"I have no idea. If we are to believe what we have been told we are now immortal. I didn't think that was possible, even with the Philosopher Stone, it doesn't really grant immortality, only a very long life."

"Harry, I feel like I've been told things that I haven't been told before. I know things that I haven't ever learnt before. I know that I am an Animagus but how is that possible?"

"You're an Animagus? Are you sure?"

Hermione concentrated and blurred. Suddenly sat with Harry was a large female Wolf. She had golden brown eyes and a tawny brown-grey coat. She looked up at Harry and suddenly Harry also blurred. Sat with the she-wolf was a large male wolf. He had near black fur but had emerald green eyes. The both sat, tongues lolling out of their mouths, before both blurring back to their natural shape.

"Wow, how did I do that?" Harry asked in wonder. "I thought it took years to learn how to become a Animagus?"

"Normally it does, but I seem to just have the knowledge. It's weird but I also know other stuff, like really powerful charms and curses."

"Yeah, it's the same with me. I just knew how to change form when I wanted to. It must be the boost Fawkes mentioned. However I'm not sure about the immortal bit. I don't feel any different."

"Yes, but I KNOW we died last night. I felt my life ending and then I was...somewhere else. I think you were with me but I cannot remember it much, the memories seem to be ebbing away."

Harry was silent for a while as he thought. "Yes I think I was with you. I felt warm and safe, but then I was back here."

"Oh Harry, what has happened to us, and what happened to Ron? Last night was so wonderful until he arrived...you do think it was wonderful don't you?" Hermione asked in trepidation.

"Hermione, I can honestly say that the time up until Ron arrived, it was the most wonderful moment of my life. I love you with all my heart and soul."

Hermione melted into his arms arm at his comments. She briefly kissed him before stopping and looking back at the tent. "What do we do now? We still have to find a way to destroy the amulet and we still need to find the other Horcrux's, and then we have Ron to deal with. I'd hate for him to get to Ginny and the others. Plus we still have this immortality thing to deal with, are we sure of that?"

"Well there only one way to find out, Fawkes!"

With a flash the Phoenix arrived. " _Yes, that didn't take long did it?"_

Ignoring the sarcastic tone, Harry ploughed on "Fawkes, are you sure about the immortality bit. We don't feel any different to before."

Fawkes trilled in an amused manner. _"Do you two trust me?"_

"Off course we do Fawkes, how could we not."

" _Well this will hurt, but trust me it will be fine. Harry, go to the tent and find a sharp knife and bring it back here."_

Harry quickly went to the tent, ignoring all the dried blood, and swiftly returned with a sharp dagger.

"Okay now what?" he asked.

With an amused voice, the phoenix replied _"Well that should be obvious; you stab yourself in the heart"_

"You WHAT? You've got to be shitting me!"

" _Well you could always stab Hermione instead. You did say you trusted me didn't you? Well trust me on this. It will hurt...both of you, but you will be fine."_

Harry looked at Hermione who returned the look with tears in her eyes. "Harry you cannot do this, what if he's wrong. I cannot live without you. Please don't do this."

"Mione, we have to know. If it goes wrong you can heal me. I trust Fawkes with my life."

"Please don't do this!" Hermione begged, but Harry had made up his mind. He gently removed her hands from his, and opened his shirt.

"You'd better be right about this Fawkes" he growled. He took the dagger with both hands and shut his eyes. Hermione was watching with tears running down her face. Harry took a deep breath and grimaced. He quickly plunged the knife deep into his chest. His eyes screwed up with the sudden pain and he was startled to hear Hermione scream in pain as well. His vision blurred and slowly faded to black.

Hermione was screaming hysterically. She was checking Harry and could find no pulse. His eyes were open and unseeing. "HARRY! HARRY!, You stupid bird, He's dead!"

" _Hermione, just take out the dagger, and wait. It will take a few seconds."_

Hermione glared at the bird, but gently removed the dagger, throwing it at the phoenix, who easily dodged it. She checked Harry again, but still could find no pulse. She cried hysterically as she hugged his body. How could he have done that, she was left all alone. Suddenly, without warning, Harry breathed in and jerked bolt upright. His eyes blinking in confusion.

"HARRY!, your alive, but how?" her fingers had moved to his chest to feel for the wound, but found nothing other than some now dried blood. "I felt you die, I could feel the pain, but then it went away."

The Phoenix was watching with a smug attitude. _"I told you two, you cannot die by normal means. You may as well accept it."_

Harry and Hermione clung to each other as they came to terms with the situation.

"We cannot die, Hermione. We can spend forever together."

" _Erm, just to point out, you can die if you lose your head; and we really don't want to test the killing curse. There is a very good chance that that will kill you both, so let's not get complacent. Now I'm off, you two have work to do today. You do know the wards are down and you can be detected?"_ and with a flash the bird was gone.

"Is it just me or is he very annoying?" Harry asked with an amused voice. "Come on we've got things to do. We can worry about this immortality business later. First things first, we need to move the tent and I need a new wand."

Spurred on by Harry's request Hermione went back into the tent to find her wand that she had casually thrown away the previous night. However as she entered the threshold of the tent, she saw all the blood splattered on the walls and the floor and she froze. She felt Harry come up behind her and wrap his arms around her. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, making her shiver. "It's alright love, we are okay." She nodded and retrieved her wand. Quickly she had removed all the blood with a few swift cleaning spells. They quickly packed their remaining belongings and magically shrunk the tent. They stood in the clearing in the forest where so much had happened.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Well I need a new wand, can we risk Diagon Alley?"

"We will need a disguise, so that's going to mean Polyjuice potion. I have some left but we will need to activate it."

"Where can we go to set it up?"

"Well we could try my house. My parents are in Australia and if the Deatheaters knew about them they would have looked already. We can apparate a little way away and check for detection charms."

"Ok, sounds good, plus it will be nice to sleep in a proper bed for once."

Hermione smiled at the thought and glanced at Harry. He had the same goofy smile on his face. She laughed before taking his hand and apparating away.

With a quite pop the pair arrived in an empty back alley near Hermione's house. Pulling out his invisibility cloak he quickly covered the two of them and they slowly walked to her house. As they got nearer, Hermione drew her wand and cast the ward detection spells that they needed.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"Yes, people have been in the house and left detection charms. I have removed them so we should be fine. Lets apparate to the back-garden and then I can cast some protection wards so we will be safe for a while."

Removing the cloak as it stopped them from apparating if wearing it, they took each other's hands and Hermione side-apparated Harry to the back garden. They walked to the back door, and Hermione dug deep into her bag to find a set of house keys. Unlocking the door, they both entered the house, closing the door behind them. Harry had never been the Hermione's house before and was impressed with the pleasant interior. Unlike his aunt's house that was always so clean that it had no feeling of home, this house generated a feeling of home and family. Even though it had been unoccupied for months, it still emanated a warm cosy feel.

"Come on, let me show you to the kitchen, you can make a cuppa whilst I cast the wards." She pulled him to a large kitchen decorated in a country style. She showed him where the kettle and the tea making facilities were and left him making some tea. She was back before long and they were soon sat n the lounge cuddled up with a warm drink.

"Ok, what's the plan?" Harry asked once they'd drunk the tea.

Hermione got up and fetched her beaded bag and put her hand in, "Once we've activated the Polyjuice then we can apparate to Diagon alley and find Ollivanders. He must have a wand that will suit you." As she was reaching around in the bag, suddenly she made a groan and pulled out her hand, covered in sticky Polyjuice. "Oh no Harry, I must of landed on my bag when 'Ron' threw me across the tent, the bottle's broken. It's all gone!" She sat back down with a glum look on her face.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

Harry thought for a moment, and then smiled. "We'll do what we always do, we'll make it up and we go along! If we wear long cloaks and hoods we should be okay."

Hermione looked sceptical. "I'm not sure that's a great idea Harry. What if were recognised?" she snapped.

Harry looked at Hermione. She seemed rather flushed and she looked like she was perspiring a little.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine Harry. Now answer the question."

Harry felt rather hurt by her tone, so he was a little short with his answer. "We will apparate away at the first sign of trouble."

"Okay, come on then. Let's get on with it." Hermione snapped back. She ran upstairs to get some cloaks.

' _What's wrong with her?'_ Harry thought.

As Hermione got upstairs she stopped and learnt against a wall. She put her face in her hands. _'God I need a cold shower, stop thinking about him!_ ' she thought, ' _Why did I snap at him, he looked so hurt. I just want to jump him...stop it Hermione, get a grip.'_

Harry was waiting in the lounge when Hermione came back a few minutes later with two cloaks with hoods. She put one of them on and gave the other to Harry. The both pulled up the hoods and looked at each other.

"Ready?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, where shall we apparate to?"

"How about just behind Weasleys, there's that little area that's away from view."

"Ok? On three. 1.2.3"

With a small pop they both vanished, only to re-appear seconds later in Diagon Alley. The Wizarding Street had changed considerably since the last time they were there. For one thing it was practically deserted, with only a few people about, all wearing cloaks and hoods. No one was looked at each other, only keeping their heads down. They were determined to go about their business without attracting the attention of others. The atmosphere of fear and pain was palpable. The other startling change to the Alley, was the amount of shops either boarded up or destroyed. They couple could clearly see the burnt out remains of Fortescue's Ice cream parlour, as well as Eelops Owl shop. As they looked around in horror, they also noticed that the Weasleys shop was boarded up with a notice on one of the boards stating that the shop was closed until further notice, but the shop in Hogsmeade was still open.

The pulled the hoods over their faces and slowly walked towards Ollivanders. The bank was still open as they passed it but there were a lot more guards on the door than normal. They glared at everyone who walked past the building and were heavily armed. Harry briefly caught the eye of one of the guards who nodded slightly in return, before they carried on walking. As they got closer to Ollivanders it became apparent that they would fail in their task. The shop was heavily burnt out; it was obvious that Voldemort didn't want any resistance member to be able to replace their wands if they got damaged. Of Ollivander himself there was no sign.

"Shit! Okay now what?" Hermione asked, still very grumpy

"Err. Not sure, but hanging around this burnt out shop is not a good idea. Come on let's get back to Weasleys and we can get out of here."

They slowly turned and as carefully as possible they walked back towards the Joke shop. As they passed the bank however, one of the goblins moved from his post and stood in front of them.

"OK, you two. Come with me!" it ordered, pointing a spear at the pair. They were aware of a second goblin pointing a spear at their backs. Harry tensed up and felt Hermione doing the same.

"Ragnok needs to speak to you two!" the first said roughly, but then, almost un-seen, it winked slightly at Harry. Harry was amazed. He didn't even know that Goblins knew how to wink, but the one in front of him clearly did. He didn't know if Hermione had seen it but he slowly nodded and allowed them both to be ushered towards the imposing main doors of the bank. Once inside they were quickly taken to a side room where they were told to wait. After only a few minutes a door opened and an old wizened goblin emerged.

"Good day Mr Potter, I am Ragnok. I apologise for the manner in which we got you in here. One of my guards recognised you and was aware of the standing order that I wished to speak to you if you were seen. I would like to assure you that we are in no way in league with Voldemort and that you are free to leave at anytime. I did however wish to speak to you about your inheritance. Is that okay?"

Harry nodded. "Good, please follow me."

They followed to old goblin to a large ornate office with a large desk in the centre of the room. Two chairs were on one side which the couple took while Ragnok took his large tall chair on the other. He peered at the young couple threw his half moon glasses that were perched on the end of his long nose.

"Now Mr Potter, Miss Granger. We would have normally done this when you turned seventeen, but due to the circumstances that of course didn't happen. I assume that you are happy to talk about this in front of Miss Granger. I see from your auras that you are linked somehow, but I must admit to been slightly puzzled by some of your aura. I have never seen that particular aura ever before. Most intriguing." The goblin looked at the pair with interest, still awaiting an answer from Harry.

"Yes of course sir. I am more than happy for 'Mione to be here."

"Good. Well then, I am happy to tell you Mr Potter that you are indeed a wealthy young wizard. With the money from both your parents vault, and the one you inherited from Mr Black, you are worth in excess of 256 million Galleons. The exact amount is difficult to assess as it is constantly growing, but one thing that may be of interest to you is that you also own a number of properties throughout the world. Most of these are known to the Wizarding world, but there is one, Potter cottage, that is un-plottable and only you can see the building. I have assumed that this may be use to you in your current endeavours. As you know that Goblin nation is neutral in the current clash, so we off course cannot help you in any way." The head Goblin managed to say this with a straight face, but even Hermione struggled not to grin at the goblins words.

Unperturbed the goblin carried on speaking. "Here is the port-key for the property Mr Potter. Here is the vault key for you holdings. Would you like to see your vault today?"

Harry took the port-key and the vault key. "Yes sir, I would like to see the vault. I will need to take some money to aide us in our task, and I would also require some Muggle money."

The head goblin nodded and made a vague gesture, and another goblin emerged. Harry recognised the new goblin. "Griphook? Is that you?"

Griphook was pleased that Harry recognised him. Most wizards didn't take the time to remember the goblins that they dealt with.

"Mr Potter, It's an honour to see you again. I am here to show you to your vault. As you own one of the largest vaults we use, it's on the main level so you will be pleased that you do not need to use the carts. If you would like to follow me."

Harry smiled at this; he was slightly looking forward to the trip in the carts, but was sure that Hermione would hate it. They followed the diminutive goblin to a long corridor with large metal doors spaced on the walls. They were all numbered and Griphook stopped in front of vault #7. He gestured to a plain panel on the door. "If you would like to put first you're key and then your palm on the panel. The door will only open if you have the key and will only open for you alone Mr Potter, so if the key is stolen it will be useless."

Harry did as he was asked and the door slowly opened. Inside was a large dim room. Griphook stood by the door and made no move to enter.

"You are only allowed to enter. We goblins cannot enter the vault. You will need to give Miss Granger permission if you wish her to enter. If someone was to enter without your permission, they would be instantly apparated to an empty cell deep in the bank. The cell has no door or windows and they will slowly starve to death."

"How do I give Hermione permission?"

"You just need to ask Miss Granger to place her hand on the door panel and state that you give her permission to enter aloud."

Hermione put her hand where instructed and Harry said in a loud voice.

"I give Miss Hermione Granger permission to enter my Vault at anytime. She may take whatever she wishes from the vault."

Hermione felt the panel grow warm and then she felt a tingle in her arm as the vault accepted her.

"Harry you didn't have to add the last bit. I don't need your money." She was still looking a little red in the face and a bit surly, although his actions did melt her bad mood a little.

"Hermione, if what we have been told is true, then we are going to be together for a very long time. What's mine is yours; that is the way it is supposed to be."

Hermione smiled briefly at the comment, and the pair of them entered the vault. As soon as they entered the illumination level rose and they could see the contents. They were both staggered by the sight in front of them. There were vast piles of gold and silver in one corner, along with a table with piles of Muggle money. In another sat a large row of tables with items placed on them. These ranged from small items of jewellery to large weapons. On one velvet covered table sat a few small items and a large golden sword.

"Harry look. Isn't that the sword of Griffindor?" They both walked over to the table and sure enough the sword that Harry had used in his second year and that Dumbledore had left to him in his will was sat on the table.

"We can use it to destroy the locket Hermione! Do you think we can take it?"

"Well it's in your vault, so it must be yours. How did it end up here? Scrimgeour wasn't going to let you have it."

"Well it's here now, so let's take it. Do you have your beaded bag?" Hermione nodded and they took the sword and gently lowered it into the bag. Harry then took a large handful of Galleons and large handful of 20 pound notes. They looked around the vault before leaving and walking back to the main bank area with Griphook. He showed them to the main door and bade them well before leaving them.

Harry and Hermione were just leaving the bank and still pulling up there cloaks when a witch and wizard walked into the bank. The wizard caught Harry's gaze and Harry saw recognition in the cold eyes that looked at him. Harry quickly pulled the hood up and grabbed Hermione's hand and quickly tried to walk away down the street.

"That was Lucius Malfoy, he saw me. We need to get out of here fast."

They both tried to apparate away but they both failed. "FUCK! They've erected anti-apperation wards already." Harry cried.

As they spoke, they both heard a shout. "POTTER! You fool, we've got you now."

Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Le-strange walked to stand in front of them, both had their wands drawn.

"So itty bitty Potty come out the play did he. And he brought a friend for Lucius to play with, that's nice, one for each of us. Where's your wand Potty? Lost it have you?"

She drew her wand back and shouted "Bombarda!"

Hermione barely got a shield in place before the explosion occurred. They were both blown back and both landed at different point of the Alley. The rest of the denizens had melted away, leaving a deserted street. The guards outside the bank were under orders not to interfere in anything that happened off bank property, so they let the altercation to happen. Bellatrix ran towards Harry, casting spells at him at a quick rate. It was only Harry's Quidditch reflexes that saved him as he sprung to his feet and sprinted away. Hermione did not fare as well as she hit her head when she landed, causing her to become momentarily confused. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked up to see Lucius Malfoy leering at her.

"Hello Pretty!" he snarled at her, with a swipe of his cane he hit her across her face, causing her to reel backwards. He then swiped her wand out of her hands causing it to fall a few feet away.

"No whilst Bella, kills your Harry, I think I will have some fun with his whore!" He grabbed her by the hair and roughly kissed her. She nearly gagged at the smell and taste and brought her hand up and with her nails she scratched his face. With a snarl he through her back on the floor, and wiped at his face. He looked at the blood on his hand, and laughed at her. "Well you still have some spirit left. That's good, it will make it all the more fun."

Hermione could see from the bulge in his trousers that he was aroused and she was terrified about what would happen to her. She was dimly aware that Bella had arrived with Harry blooded and bruised. She had him tied by the hands and was holding him by the hair, forcing him to watch.

"Itty Bitty Harry, going to see he whore raped and then killed." She giggled.

Hermione suddenly kicked out with her foot, connecting with Malfoy's shin. He gasped in pain and in retaliation, kicked her in the side. She rolled away in pain, but she managed to roll towards her wand. She grasped it at took aim at the monster in front of her,

"Diffindo!" she shouted and made a cutting motion with her wand. Malfoy screamed and clasped at his groin. A dark red patch grew on his trousers and he continued to scream.

"You Bitch, you will pay for that! – Sectumsempra!"

Massive lacerations appeared over Hermione's body, and face. A large cut appeared around her neck causing blood to spurt out of her once more. She screamed briefly but quickly fell back, clearly dead. Malfoy fell down to the ground clasping at his now missing manhood.

Bella was laughing all the while and turned Harry around to face her. Harry had felt Hermione's pain, and it had nearly made him black out, but he was dammed if he would give Bellatrix the satisfaction. As he looked in her face, he spat at her. She swiped him across his face and wiped the spittle from her eyes.

"Oh dear, Potty's whore is dead! What is he going to do now?"

To her surprise, Harry hadn't fallen down in apparent grief as she expected him to do. He merely looked at the corpse of his friend and back at her with an odd smile on his face. With a strength she didn't know he possessed he snapped the bonds holding his hands and calmly shouted "Accio Hermione's wand!"

The wand flew from the dead woman's fingers to Harry and with startling speed he pointed it at Bellatrix and shouted "Bombarda!"

The explosion caused Bellatrix to fly backwards where she connected with a brick wall with a sickening crunch. She screamed briefly before falling to the floor unconscious, dropping her wand.

Harry had started to walk to her, when Lucius painfully ran over to her and took her arm and apparated themselves away. All that was left of the blonde wizard was a small blooded penis sat on the floor. By now a small crowd had appeared, brave now that the altercation seemed to be over. They stood watching Harry wondering why he was so calm about the apparent death of his friend. Harry was aware that Hermione would revive soon, but not keen for the whole world to know about it, so he quickly came up with a plan. With a show of false grief, he dropped to the floor, and crawled to her body crying. The crowd were happier now; this was the way they expected things to happen. Harry crawled over the Hermione's apparently lifeless body and he took her in his arms and bowed his head over hers blocking her from view. After discussion with Hermione earlier that day about his earlier revival, he knew that the revival would cause Hermione to move, so he cradled her in his arms. Quickly he saw the cuts heal and with a jerk forward, she gasped out as she came too. He gave her a moment, wailing loudly to cover any noise she may make before whispering to her.

"Hermione, play dead!"

She immediately went limp in his arms. He cradled her for a while before he gently lay her down and stood to retrieve her wand and walked over to pick up Bellatrix's wand. He ignored the crowd, but was aware of the light pop of the flash bulbs as some people took photos. He felt the anti-apperation wards pop out of existence, and walked back to Hermione. Although her cuts had healed, she was still covered in blood, so to all those watching saw the boy who lived, take his friend in his arms, stand and apparate away with the body.

With a loud 'pop' Harry arrived in Hermione's parents lounge with Hermione still in his arms. As soon as they arrived she started to cry.

"Shit, that hurt!" she cried. "Immortality is great but it still hurts when you 'die'!"

Harry gently put her down and she swayed a little on her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm Fine! I've going to get showered." She snapped, her bad mood returning, and stomped out of the room. Harry sighed to himself and slowly followed her. He felt that he could do with a shower himself as he was covered in her blood as well.

As he got upstairs, he found her sat on the top step crying. He sat next to her and put his arm around her. She resisted at first before eventually resting her head on his shoulder and sobbed into it.

"What's been the matter today 'Mione?"

"Nothing!"

"Oh come on, you've been like a bear with a sore head all day."

"Harry, it's nothing!" and she made to stand up. Harry grabbed her waist and pulled her back down to sit next to him. Taking her chin in his hand he looked deep into her eyes.

"Come on 'Mione, I know you."

"You will think I'm been daft."

"Never, you can tell me anything."

Hermione sighed. He was not going to let this drop. With an embarrassed flush, she spoke.

"It's you Harry. All I've been able to think about all bloody day is you and what we did last night. It's been driving me mad thinking about it"

"What about last night?"

"Well it was wonderful...more than wonderful. I've never felt like that before and I'm scared that you will not want to do it again." She wailed.

"Hermione, why would you think that. I told you last night that I loved you, I don't make love to just any one you know."

"Do you really mean that? You really love me? I was so scared that you were just saying that, and what with the immortality thing, I was scared that if you didn't I would be alone for eternity."

"Hermione, I cannot say that there will be times when we will argue, but I can promise you one thing, If I had to pick someone to spend eternity with, it would be you."

This made her cry even harder, but at least this time they were tears of joy.

"Come on love, let's get you clean. I'm going to have to get you something for you to protect your neck; you seem to keep getting it slashed."

She punched him on the shoulder, "It's only been twice."

"You don't know how weird this conversation sounds."

They both showered, helping each other to clean of the dried blood once more. They both dried and with a look in her eye, Hermione led Harry to her bedroom. She sat down on her bed and took his hand.

"Harry, do you really love me?"

"With all my heart."

"Make love to me Harry"

Harry smiled at the thought and looked at the young women sat in front of him, covered only in a white fluffy towel. He had to admit she looked gorgeous, her brown eyes looking very vulnerable at the moment. Her bottom lip was slightly pouting as she looked at him with a nervous look. He slowly bent down and gently kissed her lips, slow as first but soon with an increasing urgency. His towel dropped to the floor, and he quickly moved to the bed and removed her towel. Now, both naked, they continued to kiss with an increasing degree of passion. Harry slowly moved his mouth down her body until he came to her breasts. Taking one is his mouth; he gently kissed her nipple until it was stood erect in his mouth, eliciting moans of pleasure from Hermione. She was running her hands through his damp hair, whilst writhing around in pleasure. He continued his journey south kissing all the way down. She arched her back as he took her in his mouth and slowly started to hum to himself. Within minutes she started to climax, shouting out his name in the throes of passion.

"Harry, I need you inside me...NOW"

With a strength he didn't know she possessed she flipped him over onto his back, she sat on his lap. With a half lidded look in her eye, she took hold of him and swiftly guided him inside her. She gasped as she rammed him home, causing him to grab the bed with his hands. She learnt over him so he could fondle and suck on her nipples as she quickly built up a rhythm. Harry could see the love and passion in her eyes as she screwed him, this making him all the more aroused. He could sense that both of them were close to their respective climaxes.

"Mione, I'm going to ..."

She sat bolt upright, her breast stood out proud and firm. She had a proud look in her eye as she sat down hard, and with a scream she climaxed, her muscles tightening on him, in the most wonderful way. This was too much for Harry, as he cried out her name and felt himself follow her uncontrollably into his climax

As soon as they both finished their climax, without any warning, and as if a puppeteer had cut the strings, they both blacked out. Hermione fell onto Harry's chest, her hair spread around him, his manhood still deep inside her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four – The Power that he knows not**

 _As soon as they both finished their climax, without any warning, and as if a puppeteer had cut the strings, they both blacked out. Hermione fell onto Harry's chest, her hair spread around him, his manhood still deep inside her._

The sun was just starting to make an appearance over the horizon before anything changed in the room. The pair were still locked in their passionate embrace, for them time had stopped. Both hearts had stopped, all neurons had stopped firing and neither were breathing. Harry was still hard inside Hermione, but neither couple were aware of it, in fact they were aware of nothing. For them not a second had passed since they blacked out.

Once more a light began to appear and before long a figure of a man appeared. However this time it was not that of the old man, but a younger looking man. He had short blond hair and was clothed in a pristine white suit. His face, though young had a timeless quality about it, but his eyes were a golden colour. He walked slowly over to the frozen couple, his steps slow and faltering.

"Strange bodies these souls have, only two legs? How on earth do they move as fast as they do?" he grumbled to himself as he walked over to the coupled pair.

"So these are our saviours are they? Not much to look at." He observed the way they were coupled. "Now that doesn't look comfy, but judging by the noises she was making she seemed to enjoy it. Corporals, no sense of dignity."

He continued to examine them as if they were a particularly interesting set of specimens.

"What was the old man thinking off, Immortality but no major increase in power or knowledge?, oh he gave a bit but nothing like they are going to need, he must be losing it." As he finished the examination of the pair, he walked over to the side table and picked up Hermione's wand.

"Hmm, so this is one of them wands they go on about so much." As he looked at the wand, it suddenly disassembled itself in front of him so he could examine the components.

"Ha, it's just a piece of wood with some old animal hair, dragon if I'm not mistaken. Odd it has no power of its own...Ah I see; it's just a focus point. How quaint." The wand re-assembled and the being put it back down. He walked back to the stasis locked pair and looked at them.

"Oh, well, I suppose I'd better help them." He put a hand on each of the pair's heads and concentrated. Once he'd boosted their power levels he then just whispered at them, transferring knowledge and understanding to the pair. Once done, he stood and looked pleased with himself.

"Now that will help, Voldemort with be a doddle now, but you will still have the most difficult challenge to face afterwards. Well that's done, better get back home...Oh yes before I forget you two need to know each other a little better. Let's transfer memories shall we."

He looked at the pair and waved his hands. They glowed briefly and he then smiled. With an almost silent pop he vanished leaving the two young lovers embraced in their love. Time slowly returned to the pair, but not at the moment consciousness.

The sun continued to climb into the sky, castling warm shadows in the room.

Deep inside Harry's mind something odd was happening. He started to remember a childhood, but not his own. For some reason he was a lot smaller and had long brown hair. He distinctly remembered growing up with a loving pair of parents and in a home full of happiness and love. He could remember when he/she first learnt to read and the delight of been able to pick up a book and to lose yourself in another world. At first the books had all been stories, but they soon became about 'things'. There was so much to learn and he/she had an insatiable appetite for learning. All was good in life until school started. Hermione, for Harry now realised that these were her memories and not his, was looking forward to going to school to learn new things. He saw the six year old young girl getting ready for her first day, ready to read more books and see other children. Been an only child, with busy but loving parents, she had not had much interaction with other children and was therefore unprepared for the possibility that most other children were not as studious as she was. She eagerly left her mummy at the gates of the new school and ran to the other children, her beloved books in her new school satchel. It was a much sadder Hermione that meet her mummy at the end of the school day, the tear tracks clearly visible on her face. She had told her mother that the other kids were mean to her and that they had pushed her to the ground and stomped on her books. The first use of the word 'bookworm' had been uttered and it had hurt her. Harry watched as the years progressed and Hermione withdrew into herself and her books, the years of name-calling and occasional physical violence taking its toll. She had no friends at all during her younger years. She had never been invited to another child's birthday party nor had she ever been to play with another child. She always sat on her own at school, mostly ignored but often bullied. The strange things that would happen around her, especially when she was been bullied had also added the label of 'odd' to her repertoire of insults thrown at her. The teachers were not much better; annoyed with her constant desire to answer questions and more annoyed that she was nearly always correct. The only sources of happiness in the young girl's life, other than her books, were her parents. They loved there young child totally and were constantly telling her that she was a good child and that things would get better. Harry then remembered the delight that Hermione had felt when she had received her Hogwarts letter in the summer when she was eleven. She was a witch, and she was going to Hogwarts. He felt her happiness when Professor McGonagall had appeared to explain it all to her and to her parents. The Professor had accompanied them to Diagon alley and Harry felt the amazement in the young girls mind when she first held her new wand. She was complete, all the previous hurts fading away as she felt the power coursing through her as she held the Vine wand. He felt her delight at the sight of the steaming red train at Kings Cross station, and her happiness at meeting her first other magical child, Neville Longbottom, whom she helped search for the missing Trevor. Then he saw the meeting that would define the young witch's life for the rest of time, she met Harry. He could feel the instant connection she had felt with him, as if something had clicked in her head when she saw him sat with Ron. However the delight was short lived as he felt the hurt when they had both teased her. Although it was Ron who had said the hurtful things, Hermione had been more hurt when Harry had not stood up for her. She had cried for hours in the empty bathroom, but when Harry had stopped the troll from killing her, he could feel the love for him begin, never before had anyone ever risked so much for her. At the time it was the love of one child for another, but it grew and it never went away. Harry could feel however Hermione try to bury the love, for she did not feel worthy of the love, and was terrified that he would not return the feelings. She had pretended to herself that she could love Ron, even though he would constantly hurt her and disappoint her. She still however could not admit her love for Harry until that fateful night in the tent, when it all came out. Harry was shocked by the intensity of her feeling for him; she would gladly die if it would save his life. Never before has he felt such warmth and love, as she had for him and he would never for the rest of all time, ever question the love she had for him.

Inside Hermione's mind a similar experience was playing out, just as traumatic as her schooling had been; she had parents that loved her to help her through the difficult years. Harry had nothing, absolutely nothing for the first eleven years of his life. He had not even had his own name until he was five, just answering to 'Boy' or more often 'Freak'. She remembered all the nights he had tried to get to sleep in his cupboard under the stairs, dark and cold. Often very hungry only having eaten scraps and leftovers, Harry had felt unloved. Her heart broke when he tried to write on the inside door of the cupboard, 'Harry's room' with a small piece of crayon he had found. The physical and mental abuse was abhorrent to Hermione, how anyone could treat a child like that was beyond her. Her pride in Harry grew; the fact that he had grown into a tolerant, kind loving man a minor miracle considering. She watched with a heavy heart the hours of 'Harry Hunting' the young boy was forced to endure as a boy with his larger cousin. She felt the pain of the beatings administered by both his uncle and his cousin, the broken ribs, cuts and bruises all failing to heal properly. Then the day came, the fateful day when Harry got the letter. She watched as Vernon tried to avoid Harry's fate, but soon Harry was on the train to Hogwarts. She saw him meeting her for the first time and was pleased that he liked her from the moment he met her. She finally saw the reason that he didn't stand up for her when Ron was been nasty. Harry had never had a friend; he was so scared of losing his first one, that despite his mind screaming at him to stop Ron, he didn't. It was only when he heard about the troll that Harry finally admitted to himself that Hermione was more important to him. She saw his heartache when she was petrified in their second year. The hours he had spent sat holding her hand when she laid in the hospital wing melted her heart. She felt the love for her grow, but Harry felt the need to bury it deep down. He couldn't risk been hurt or making her a target for Voldemort. She saw him pretend that he loved Ginny, as more than a sister, but once more he had to leave that behind him as well. He was prepared to spend his life alone to save them all, and this was the way he felt it had to be. That was until the night in the tent. Why he kissed her, even he didn't know. It was a spur of the moment thing, but he was glad that he did. The love he had for her was immense, so big that it almost scared her. He was frightened that she couldn't love him forever. Knowing that they were immortal, spending it alone, without Hermione, would be torture.

As soon as they both came to the end of their shared memoirs, then the extra knowledge began to grow. They both learnt how to cast much more powerful magic than they had ever done before. Added to that they learnt that the wand was nothing more than a magical focus, that the wand had no or little intrinsic magical power. They soon learnt that wandless and non-verbal magic would be a lot more powerful during a fight, as the waving of the wand and the speaking the incantation gave your opponent a advantage in how to avoid the attack. They quickly learnt how to use magic in this manner. They also learnt that even thought they were to all-intensive purposes immortal; they could be killed by the killing curse because that curse causes no physical damage to the body for their immortality to work with. It just separates the soul and they would not survive that. Added to their increasing power was the ability to become muti-animagi. As well as their wolf form they could now transform into any animal, magical or otherwise. They then learnt that they also possessed the skills of Earth Magic, they could control all four of the elements, Air,Water,Fire and Earth. As soon as the learning process had begun it came to an abrupt end and for a long while the couple remained locked in stasis whist the power they had been given stabilised.

It was nearly midday when signs of life re-emerged in the young couple. Their hearts slowly re-started, causing them to both begin breathing once more. Slowly Harry's eyes fluttered open and saw his Hermione laying on top of him. He was confused about what had happened, he could now remember clearly his beloved's childhood and all the hardships she had faced at the hands of the bullies. He knew more about his magic than he had even known before, but how had all that happened. The last proper memory was of the most wonderful climax inside the woman he loved more than life itself. He then noticed that it was bright sunshine outside, just how long had they been laid here. Just then, Hermione also started to stir, her eyes fluttering as she clawed her way to consciousness. She looked him in the eyes and smiled before her expression dissolved into one of abject horror.

"Oh Harry? How could they treat you that way for all those years?"

As soon as she said those words, Harry realised that as much as he now knew about Hermione's life she now knew just as much about his. To his surprised he wasn't embarrassed about this new aspect to their relationship, rather he was pleases that someone now knew what he had been through.

"Ssshhss love, it's in the past. You're my future now and that's all that matters." And he gently kissed her.

Hermione suddenly realised where they were and how much time seemed to of past. She could feel Harry still softly inside her, but the daylight was streaming through the window. "What happened Harry. I remember last night, but now I can remember all about your childhood. And Merlin, I know so much about magic. I think I know how to do wandless magic."

With that she gingerly moved off him, and stood up. With a wave of her hand she summoned her cloths and tidied the room.

"Why did you wave your hand like that?"

Hermione's eyebrows shot up at the thought. She just looked over at one of the chairs and with a thought transfigured it into a small table and then back again. She looked up at Harry with childish delight on her face. Harry silently summoned a towel to wrap around himself before asking the whereabouts of the shower. With a suggestive look Hermione took his hand and led him to the large shower in the bathroom. Once the water was running warm she led him inside the cubicle and began to wash him all over. He returned the favour, taking care to wash her hair for her. She sighed in contentment as the hot water washed away her cares for a few moments. Turning to face him, she looked deep into his eyes as the water fell around them. Unbidden tears sprung to her eyes as she realised how much he loved her. She knew exactly what was required of her.

"Harry James Potter, upon my magic I promise that I will never ever leave you, I will love you till the end of time and I will always be there for you, so mote it be!"

With a flash magic surrounded them, encompassing them in a bright light. Harry looked at Hermione in surprise. Had she just done what he thought she had done? With his newly acquired magical knowledge he recognised a marriage vow when he heard one. Without hesitation he responded.

"Hermione Jean Granger, upon my magic I promise that I will never ever leave you, I will love you till the end of time and I will always be there for you, so mote it be!"

The glow of magic increased and strands of light surrounded them and bound their bodies together. With little idea of what he was doing Harry bent down and kissed his new wife with a passionate kiss. Slowly the light faded leaving the two holding each other in a tight embrace. Harry slowly parted from her and looked in her eyes.

"You know what just happened don't you?"

"I know Harry; I hope you don't think I forced this on you. I remember from our transfer this morning that you were worried that I would leave you. I needed to prove to you that I won't. We are now married magically and with the wording of the bond I used, I can never ever leave you, nor you me. We are bonded for all eternity, and in our case that could mean a very long time."

"I must admit to been a bit surprised when you made that vow, but I could not be happier. I can think of no one that I would rather spend all eternity with then you. Now I know this isn't romantic, but do you think we can get out of her and get something to eat, I'm bloody starving!"

With a laugh, Hermione turned off the shower and before long, the young married couple were sat at the kitchen table with a microwave meal that she had found in the deep freeze. To the hungry couple it tasted like ambrosia. It wasn't long however that the conversation moved from the mundane to more important matters.

"What are we going to do now, we need to find the remaining Horcrux's"

"I know Hermione, but to be honest I have no idea what they are or where we can find them. We also need to find the Weasley's and let them know about Ron. The creature will try to find them and we don't know what it will do."

"Let's start with what we know, we know that two of the Horcrux's are gone, Tom's diary and Gaunt's Ring. We have the locket, when are we going to destroy that by the way?"

"Today, as soon as we have finished this conversation. I want that thing gone!"

"Okay, so that leaves us with three more that we think exist."

With a flash of flames Fawkes appeared in front of them.

" _There was a seventh, but it is now destroyed."_

"A seventh? What was it?" asked Harry

With a mental laugh Fawkes replied " _You, young one, you were a Horcrux. Voldemort created one in you when he tried to kill you all those years ago. His soul was shattered and part of it latched onto the only living thing it could find…you."_

"Me! Oh Fuck!"

" _Language! Don't worry, a Horcrux created in a living receptacle is a fragile thing. In order to destroy it you only need to kill the host."_

Harry looked in horror, "Does that mean I have to die…hang on I already have…OH!"

" _Yes youngster, you already have. And you really died that time, so the Horcrux had nowhere to go, and poof!"_

"Ok that's fantastic, it still leaves us with having to find three more, any ideas Hermione?"

"Well I guess that Nagini could be one"

" _Don't be stupid Hermione, what did I just say about living creatures making poor vessels. Too easily killed, only a fool would intentionally make a Horcrux from a living creature. Voldemort is many things, but he is not a fool."_

"Sheesh, Fawkes, there is no need to be so rude about it. God what an arse! Well what do you suggest, you smart-alec bird?" Hermione asked angrily.

Fawkes laughed in their heads. He secretly loved winding these two up. They were so much more fun than the old headmaster, even though he wasn't even human.

" _Well I don't bloody know…."_

"Language!"

"… _HA! As I was saying, I don't know, but I can tell you who will be able to help you. You need her help so much."_

"Who Fawkes?" Harry practically screamed

" _No sure if I want to tell you with that attitude."_

Harry took a deep breath. He knew phoenixes were powerful, but nothing was written about them been bloody annoying. "I'm sorry Fawkes. Could you please tell us who can help us?"

For a long while Fawkes maintained his somewhat fictional annoyance before announcing

" _Luna Lovegood, she can help. She has the power of Sight!"_

"Oh Crap!" Hermione swore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five – Potter Cottage.**

Hermione had a look of dismay on her face at the announcement by Fawkes. With a psychic laugh, Fawkes had flashed out of the room as soon as he finished speaking to them.

"What's the matter love? I thought you liked Luna?"

"I do Harry, she's a kind and gentle soul who would not harm a soul unless they hurt her friends, but she can be so..."

"Infuriating?"

"Yes! But if we need her, then we need her. Where do you think we can find her, Hogwarts?"

"Maybe, but I don't fancy going there unless we have to, it's far too dangerous for us at the moment to go there. Besides, if what we have heard about Hogwarts is true then her dad may have kept her at home. Do you know where she lives?"

"Not a clue, except it's near to the Weasleys."

"Well we go to talk to the Weasleys then" Harry stated.

"Oh Harry, What are we going to tell them about Ron? Their son has been dead for years and that thing walking about looking like him. It will kill them."

Harry took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "We need to tell them, and soon. We also need to check out Potter Cottage, as a safe house. As much as I like your parents house, I do feel slightly exposed her."

"Yeah plus it will be nice to spend our wedding night somewhere safe, I have plans for you Mr Potter!"

Harry arched his eyebrow at her, aware that he was blushing. "Wedding night?"

"Don't think I forgot what we said in the shower. In magical terms we are married and I plan of jumping you as soon as we can. I am NOT letting you go, my beloved husband"

"Since when did you become such a sex monster Mrs Potter?" he asked with a smirk

"Since you took my virginity you rogue!" she said with equal humour.

With a laugh Harry started to kiss Hermione's neck, "Oh I'm a rogue am I? Well let me show you how much of a rogue I can be" as he slowly planted kissed on her exposed neck. With a groan, Hermione closed her eyes as she felt the stirrings deep inside her as he kissed her neck. She loved it when he kissed her there and she was finding it hard not to rip his clothes of straight away.

"Harry...oh God that's nice...Harry we cannot do this now, we have too much to do. Oh Merlin, that's good!...Harry we have to stop..Please..Oh Hell!"

Harry had other ideas, He gathered his young wife in his arms and despite her rather feeble protests, lifted her and carried her bodily to the lounge where he gently lowered her to the sofa. With a wave of his hand he shut the curtains, and lit the small table lamp. He began to kiss her once more, this time starting with her neck before slowly moving to her mouth. His tongue danced on her lips and she quickly allowed him access to her mouth. She had wrapped her arms around his neck and tightly held him to her. As the embrace became more passionate he moved his hands down to her loose T-Shirt and lifted it to expose her stomach. His hand began to caress her flat toned belly before slowly moving to her breasts. As they had just thrown on some clothes when they left the shower, she had not bothered with her bra, and so Harry had instant access to her exposed breasts. He slowly began to tease her ample flesh, rubbing he fingers over her nipples. Hermione was moaning into his mouth, all thoughts of not having time vanished from her mind. She loved this man, and she wanted him...Now!

Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud bang from outside and Hermione felt the wards she had placed on the property fail with a painful jolt in her head. She sat bolt upright "Shit, Harry. Deatheaters!"

Harry swore in frustration. "Fuck! Great timing, I was enjoying that!" all thoughts of passion immediately disappearing. He stood and with a wave, both teens were instantly dressed. Hermione summoned her beaded bag containing the sword and the Horcrux. Within seconds they were both ready to leave and facing the door of the lounge. Outside they could hear a number of voices all talking at once.

"Told you he was here. Lucius told us that he would have brought the bitches body here. Sentimental fool! We are to capture him alive for our master, but he doesn't have to be whole, just living. You two take upstairs, we'll start down here."

Harry whispered to Hermione "They still think you are dead. I'd rather not get into a fight, let's just apparate out of here to the Burrow"

Hermione nodded and they took each other's hand and tried to apparate away. Quickly they realised that the Deatheaters must have put up anti-apperation wards as they found that they couldn't apparate away.

"Bugger! Now what, they will be in here soon?" She asked. She lifted her wand and cast a shield charm on the door. "That will hold them for a few moments, but it's just an internal door. They can blast it in a moment of seconds."

"Erm, we could climb out of the window? Nah they will have guards outside." Dismissing the idea as soon as he thought of it.

By now they could hear the Deatheaters outside trying the door. "Harry!"

With a loud detonation the door was blasted off its hinges and flew across the room, barely missing the pair. Harry pushed Hermione into the shadows before the intruders had time to see her. Two Deatheaters stalked into the room with wands drawn. They spotted Harry, apparently defenceless as he held no wand. Even though they had their Deatheater masks on, Harry could see the sneer on both their faces. Hermione had moved further back towards the shadows, and for the moment neither of the Deatheaters had seen her. Harry was content to let them talk for the moment, giving Hermione and himself more time to come up with a plan.

"So Potter, you came back to the Mudblood whore's house did you. Foolish mistake, we have been watching this place for signs of new wards for days now. Knew you'd been here. Didn't think you'd be such a fool as to stay after you disposed of her body. I'll say one thing for your dead Mudblood though, she did a good job on old Lucius, he's not the man he used to be!" he said with an evil grin, It seemed that even the other Deatheaters didn't like Malfoy senior that much.

"So anyway, Potter, we'll just get to a bit of torture before your date with our Master" raising his wand as he spoke in an almost polite manner. It was quite surreal thought Harry as he looked at the tip of the glowing wand pointing at him. Suddenly the chatty Deatheater shouted "Diffindo", Harry put out his hand and thought ' _Protego.'_ A shimmering blue shield popped up to the surprise of the Deatheater, causing the severing spell to bounce back hitting the Deatheater on the leg, creating a massive cut to appear along its length. The Deatheater screamed in agony and fell to the ground.

"Crucio!" shouted the other Deatheater and the spell flew towards Harry. The spell passed through the shield as if it wasn't there causing Harry to fall down in absolute agony, but only briefly as he then heard Hermione shout "Reducto!" The spell hit the Deatheater on his wand arm, causing it to be blasted off at the elbow. As he screamed in agony, the second Deatheater saw for the first time Hermione as she came out of the shadows.

"You! But how?" but before he could continue, Hermione had stunned him and he fell to the ground.

"Harry are you okay?"

"Fuck that hurts! We need to get out of here. The ones upstairs will be down soon."

"Harry, the portkey! The one for Potter Cottage!"

"Shit, I forgot about it. Where did I put it?" and Harry began the pocket dance as he searched for the missing Portkey.

"Hurry up Harry, they'll be here soon."

With a smile Harry pulled out the portkey from his jeans pocket. "Come on let's get out of here" As Hermione moved to take the Portkey, a couple of Deatheaters ran through the door, casting spells at them. With a wave of his hand, Harry created another shield around them that deflected the spells. He wandlessly cast a Bombarda spell at them. They both exploded backwards into the hallway where they both lay unmoving.

"Come on, let's go!" they both grasped the portkey and Harry activated it. With the usual feeling of been hooked behind the navel they both vanished, only to reappear on a pathway leading up to the cottage.

Harry immediately fell over pulling Hermione on top of him. He landed with a thump and immediately had all the air knocked from him as she landed on his chest.

"Hey Harry, not the time or the place!" she said with a smile.

"Ha Ha" Harry gasped. "God I hate Portkeys. One of these days I will land with a little more grace. Well that could of gone better, I need more practice at fighting the bastards. I let the little shit talk rather than attacking," As they both disentangled themselves from each other and stood Hermione took him in her arms.

"Power and knowledge are great but without training they don't mean much. We just need to practice with our new abilities for a while love. Come on let's see where we are before we go find the Weasleys"

They both stood and looked at their surroundings. They seemed to be deep in a dense forest, with trees on three sides of them. At the head of the pathway lay the cottage, although to call it a cottage did push the boundaries of the word to it limits. A very large house would have been a more apt description. It was a large two story black and white timber building. It appeared very old, but it excellent repair. In keeping with the 'cottage' name it had a tidy thatch roof on the building making the whole cottage look like something out of the time of Shakespeare. In front of the property was a pleasant cottage garden that even thought it was winter was still in bloom as if it was early spring with the flowers waving in the slight breeze. Both of the two teens felt instantly at calm when they viewed the house, it seemly giving off a warm homily feeling. They could both feel the massive protective wards surrounding the house, as it was making both sets of teeth buzz slightly with the magic. As they walked hand in hand up the path towards the door, it opened silently for them allowing them access to the interior. Inside was just as warm and inviting as the outside appeared. Even though the house had been unoccupied for many years it was clean and dust free. They walked into a large entrance hall with an inviting fireplace against the back wall. A warm fire instantly sprung up casting a warming glow on the room, the polished wooden floor reflecting the flickering light of the fire. Paintings hung on the wall, some muggle but most magical. As they walked into the room they could feel the house accepting them as its owners and master. Information about the layout suddenly appeared in their heads, as if they had known the house for all of their lives.

"Come on let's get to the kitchen. I could murder a cuppa before we go to find the Weasleys" Hermione stated.

Harry followed behind her, still hurting from his moment of inaction at her parents' house.

"Will you stop that already, so you froze for a second, get over it Potter! And come and kiss me"

This made Harry smile and he was soon in Hermione arms kissing her for all he was worth. Once they came up for air she asked him, "Better now?"

"Mmhuh!"

"Good, once we have spoken to the Weasleys and found Luna we can use the training room in the basement to practice wandless magic."

"I would still like to get another wand so finding Ollivander would be good"

Hermione passed him a cup of tea and they sat in the large country kitchen to discuss the plans.

"Well we still need to destroy the locket"

"Good point, let's do that now. Can you get the locket and the sword out please"

Hermione reached into the beaded bag and first removed the large sword of Griffindor which she passed to Harry. She then removed the locket, holding it by the chain and nothing else. She quickly threw it onto the wooden table they were sat at.

"How are we going to do this?"

"Well we will need to open it first then stab it with the sword. I will need to command it to open in Parseltongue, then I'll stab it"

"Why you?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Well as it's my sword, I guess it will respond better to me, that's the only reason"

Hermione nodded and stood back whilst Harry got ready. He held the sword by the hilt and stood in front of the locket. He hissed the word * _open_ * and with a snap the locket sprung open. Light burst forth from the locket and Harry could see the figure of Hermione stood within the light.

" _Pathetic fool! As if I would want to spend all eternity with an idiot like you! I couldn't love you if you were the last man on Earth! Your family were right, you should of stayed in the cupboard under the stairs Freak! You freeze at the first sign of action, you must be a coward!"_

"Harry don't listen to it, I do want to spend my whole life with you! I do Love you!" Hermione shouted, but Harry wasn't listening.

" _You are a pathetic lover, you fumble around like a small child. To think I can be satisfied by you, I'd rather have Viktor. At least he was a real man"_

The tears were rolling down Harry's face as he listened to the fake Hermione, suddenly he felt a pair of arms around him and lips against his neck. "Stab it my love, stab it for me" she whispered to him. With a cry Harry brought the sword down into the centre of the locket. With a scream the fake Hermione faded and the light exploded outwards before the locket was left rattling on the table, empty and dead.

Harry dropped the sword with a loud clang, his expression one of abject misery. Hermione wrapped him in her arms and pulled him close to her, cradling his head again her chest. "Harry, I love you more than life itself, and you are a magnificent lover. Please don't pay attention to what the locket said, it was just Voldemort's soul trying to confuse you."

Harry was sobbing against her, his feeling of worthlessness raising its head again. Hermione thought to herself that she was going to kill the bloody Dursleys when all this was finished. After a while, Harry managed to pull himself together and was looking rather embarrassed with himself. He looked out of the window onto the spectacular garden at the back of the house, before turning back and gently kissing Hermione.

"Thank you for been you. I don't know what I would do without you."

Hermione smiled back at him, "Same here my love! Now let's get cleaned up and then get to the Weasley's and find Luna."

On the other side of the county on the outskirts of the small village of Ottery and red-headed man was walking home. As he walked up to the odd looking house that was the home of his 'parents' Ron Weasley, or the creature that looked like him was whistling happily to himself. He had experienced an epiphany the other day. For eons the creature had inhabited bodies, it had fed slowly, allowing itself to feed on the slow trickle of dark emotions its meddling had created. It had been content with this existence, as it was the only one it had known, the life it had lived taught by its sire many centuries ago. All that had changed when he had killed Harry and Hermione, he had glutted himself on the massive outpouring of the dying emotions of the pair and he had found that he loved it. The feeling of satisfaction from such a meal was glorious and the creature had found that the slow feeding he had been used to was no longer satisfying him. He needed more of the delicious glut of emotions, and had decided that going home and killing his family would be a good start. Then he would feed on more and more of these wonderful humans, they breed like cattle anyway and who would miss a few hundred..or thousand or even more? As the creature got closer he could feel his mouth watering at the thought of such a feast. He got to the door but before he opened the door, he conjured some injuries for himself. He added a long cut on his arm and bruises to his face as well as adding some dried blood. Happy with the alterations, he adopted a distraught look and pushed the door open

"Help, is anyone there?" he shouted.

"RON! Come in, how are you, where's Harry and Hermione?" his mother asked

"Mum, I have some bad news for you" 'Ron said as the door closed behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six –" Pop goes the Weasel!"**

The creature that was Ronald Weasley walked into the main lounge of the Burrow, as sad visage etched onto his face. Inside he was drooling at the thought of the meal to come. He wouldn't take them all at once, it was possible that as a group they could do him some damage, but he would take them one at a time. Then the fear of what was happening as they found another family member dead would enhance the feast even more. He looked around at the group in the house. His 'Mother and Father' were there of course along with Charlie and the twins. Surprisingly Percy was also present, in fact the only ones missing were Ginny, who was presumably still at school, and Bill who would be with his wife, Fleur at Shell Cottage. Who would be first, the creature thought, who would taste the best?

"Ronald, why are you here without Harry and Hermione. I know that you have been with them doing some sort of task that Dumbledore gave Harry, but I am surprised that you are alone?"

"Mum, I'm really sorry to tell you this but Harry and Hermione are…" Ron burst into tears at this point, this was a trick he had learnt years ago when in another body, it helped people believe the stories he would spin. It worked a charm this time. Molly Weasley rose and came across to her 'son' and placed her arms around him.

"Ron, what's happened? Where are Harry and Hermione?"

"There d-d-dead Mum! They died", and he burst into a fresh wave of tears, all the while laughing on the inside at the stupid bitches gullibility.

Molly meanwhile had burst into tears at the news, holding onto her 'son' harder. The rest of the family had heard Ron's declaration and had all come into the lounge. The twins were looking serious for once and Percy and Charlie looked aghast. Mr Weasley peeled his wife from his youngest son and had taken her in his arms where she sobbed against his chest. The creature loved all the emotion and felt his stomach growl at the anticipated meal.

Mr Weasley sat his wife down on the sofa and looked at his 'son'. "Can you tell me what happened Ron?"

With a practiced sniff, Ron whipped his eyes and looked at the elder man. "Well, we were on the mission that Dumbledore had given us, and no I cannot tell you what it is about. Anyway we were living in the magical tend that we used the other year. I had gone looking for firewood and food as we were running low. When I came back both Harry and Hermione were d-dead. They had been attacked by a madman by the look of it, as there b-b-blood was everywhere, Harry had been stabbed in the chest and H-H-Hermione had her throat cut, it was horrible Dad!"

"Oh great Merlin!" Arthur whispered. Molly cried even harder when she heard how her two surrogate children had died. Even the twins had tears in their eyes at the horrible news.

"Did you see who did it Son?"

"No Dad, when I got there, there was no one around. I didn't know what to do"

"What did you do with the bodies' son?" Arthur asked in a quiet voice.

"Dad, I couldn't leave them there. I burnt the tent and everything in it, including the bodies. I didn't know what else to do. Dad what are we going to do now, and who's going to tell Ginny? You know how she felt about Harry."

"Oh hell, I hadn't thought about that. We pulled her from school the other week, as it was getting very nasty there. She's been spending some time with Luna for the last few days. We will need to go collect her and tell her the news. It should be me that goes. We will have to try to find Hermione's parents and let them know the news as well."

The conversation died as everyone allowed themselves a moment's private grief. Molly was still sobbing loudly, unable to say anything more articulate than "Harry" or "Hermione". The creature was loving all the outpourings of grief coming from his 'family'. As he looked around slowly he spotted his first victim. He would be perfect, the feelings of grief mixed with resentment were intoxicating, but how would he do it? Ron pretended to dry his eyes and look around at his family in sorrow.

"I need some air, will you come with me?" he asked his intended victim.

"Sure Ron, come on lets go for a walk, and you can tell me more details if it would help"

With a small smile. Ron stood and followed his elder brother out of the house to the large garden at the back of the property. This was going to be so easy. He walked down toward the large pond at the bottom of the garden with his older brother following him. Unseen by all, Ron's eyes were once more turning totally black and the large black knife appeared in his hand. He hid it under his robes, as he walked further away from the house. As they got around the corner, Ron turned to his brother and for the first time his elder brother saw the demon that looked like his youngest sibling. He felt terror as he gazed into the evil black pools that were his eyes. As he looked he suddenly felt intense pain as Ron swiftly stabbed the large knife into his stomach.

"So, Percy! Let's dance shall we!"

IY – IY – IY

Harry finally managed to convince Hermione that she was ready to leave. She had found one of the bathrooms and had spent an inordinate amount of time washing in the bath. True Harry had been with her and their love-making was amazing, but she did seem to take a very long time with all the shampoos and lotions and such.

For Hermione, making love in a bath was a revelation, it was just so damm sexy. Harry had made her climax more times in the hour that she thought possible. Hermione wasn't normally a vain girl, but after such a workout, she delighted in laying back in the warm bath and trying out all the various lotions and was amazed when she found one of the shampoos promised to tame her normally wild hair. With regret she finally let her lover convince her that getting out of the bath was a good idea.

She finally came down the stair wearing clean clothes that she had found in the master bedroom. She somehow KNEW that they were for her and they were all the right size. She was over the moon with her hair, for the first time without the use of massive amounts of hair products, it was sleek and smooth. It gleamed like polished metal and judging from the open mouthed expression on her husband's face, it looked good on her. She walked over to him with a smile and lifted her hand to his open jaw and gently shut it for him.

"Come on dear, let's not keep the Weasleys waiting."

Harry gave her a swift light smack on her bum, causing her to squeal and laugh. She then turned serious and looked back at him. "We need to apparate somewhere out of sight, so we can make sure that no Deatheaters are around."

"Good idea, lets cast a disillusionment charm on ourselves and then apparate to the pathway up to the house, that way we can see if anyone is around."

With a nod, Hermione took out her wand and Harry wandlessly cast the charms on both of them. They took a deep breath and disapparated away, only to appear on the lane leading up to the odd looking house. Looking around they could not see anyone and Hermione quietly said " _Homenum Revelio"_. Checking the result, she whispered to Harry "Nothing!" The slowly began to walk up to the Burrow. They had just got to the front door when they heard an ear piercing scream coming from the back garden. As one they both broke the disillusionment spell and burst through the door and into the front room.

IY – IY – IY

Percy looked at the thing in front of him in absolute terror. He could feel the blade deep inside himself. More frightening was the evil smile of the face of the man he thought was his younger brother, and the lack of anything approaching humanity in the dark pools of its eyes.

"Hell, that tastes amazing!" the creature gurgled, "Let's see what more we can get eh brother mine?"

With that he raised Percy of the ground with the large knife, effectively impaling him on the end of it as he lifted him up. The pain for Percy was indescribable and Percy let out an ear-piercing scream.

"There now, that's better! Yum!"

IY – IY – IY

Inside the house, things were going badly. All parties were grieving for the loss of the two teens. Molly had finally stopped sobbing but was sat on the sofa with her husband staring into space, not answering any questions. The twins were sat silently on the other sofa with their elder brother talking quietly. Suddenly two startling things happened. First they heard the most awful scream they had ever heard. Almost immediately followed by the front door banging open and two impossible people bursting in.

"HARRY! HERMIONE? What? How? But your dead!" Molly screamed

"Who told you that? Quickly!"

"Ron, he came a few minutes ago and told us you were dead"

The two teens noticed that the other men in the room were now pointing wands at them, as well as looking nervously at the direction the scream had come from.

"No, we are not dead, yes we are who we say we are, you first met me when I couldn't find the entrance to the platform at Kings Cross, and Hermione has a familiar called Crookshanks. Now where is Ron?"

"He's in the back garden with Percy" Arthur replied

"SHIT, Percy! Quick follow us, wands out!" and Harry and Hermione ran into the garden followed by the other Weasleys. As they all ran towards the pond they were greeted with a sight from a muggle horror movie. Ron was holding Percy aloft with a massive back knife and worst of all he was laughing at the situation. All the Weasleys were sickened by the sight and even more so by the black eyes that Ron possessed.

Harry shouted at Ron "RON!, put him down!"

Ron turned at the sound. For once in the creatures' long life, he was speechless. This wasn't possible; he killed these two with his own hands.

"How? You are dead. I killed you." With a flick he dropped Percy off the knife, and reversed the blade and quickly slit the elder mans throat. Blood spurted everywhere, and covered the creature in the warm liquid. Despite the shock at seeing the two teens, the creature relished the meal that the death of the older man afforded him.

"PERCY! NO!, RON WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" screamed Molly.

"That's not Ron, Mrs Weasley!" Hermione shouted back.

Molly looked at Hermione in shock before she pulled out her wand and started to cast spell after spell at the creature that had killed her son. The creature idly waved his hand and absorbed the spells with it. He smiled at his 'mother'.

"Now Mother dear, that's not very friendly is it? Not after I've just eaten." He cast an unknown spell that caused a green and yellow light to fly towards his mother. Harry wordlessly cast a shield charm just in time and the curse flew away into the trees. The creature's attention shifted back to Harry. "You! You're dead. I know I killed you and your whore; want to tell me how you are here. I don't smell Vampire, but you are you, that much I can tell."

"Just shows that you can't kill em all eh! Now back off and leave here!" Harry replied, hand raised at the creature.

"Now why would I do that eh? Lots of lovely Weasleys to eat. Plus you of course- again."The creature raised the black knife and with a surprisingly fast throw, the large knife imbedded itself into Harry's chest, causing blood to fly in all directions. The tip of the knife could be clearly seen poking out of Harry's back. With a low cry Harry collapsed.

"Harry!" Mrs Weasley screamed.

Hermione was suddenly galvanised into action. She had seen how useless the spells had been on the creature, but she figured that it was still subject to the same laws of physics that all objects were. With a shout she fired explosive curse after explosive curse at the ground in front of the creature. This caused him to fly backwards towards the trees. As soon as he was airborne, she fired repelling charms at him, aided by the now aware twins. This caused the body to fly backwards at a massive rate of knots. Ron landed with a loud thump in a knot of trees about a quarter of mile away. He felt one of his bones break with the impact. Whilst he was nearly immortal, his body was still mortal and he knew he couldn't win today, so he apparated away.

Back at the Burrow, chaos reigned. Molly had run over to her dead son and was cradling the body, covering her clothes in his blood. She was rocking back and forth, crying. Her husband was knelt beside her with a dead look in his eyes as he looked down on his deceased son. The twins and Charlie were stood with wands still held in their hands, unsure on what to do. They had just seen their kid brother kill there other sibling, and then kill Harry, who had just come back from the supposed dead. What was surprising them the most was the apparent lack of concern from Hermione, who was prowling around the garden, casting protective wards.

"Er, Hermione, what about Harry?" Fred asked.

"Oh yeah, hang on a moment, just let me finish this" she replied

Fred looked at George in amazement. They were both thinking the same thing, 'How could she be so unaffected by Harry's death?'

After a while, she walked over to Harry's body, and gently removed the knife. She threw it away, and looked back at the three Weasley men. "Don't worry, he'll be okay in a second or two" The three stared at her in disbelief

"She's lost it; Harry's death has pushed her over the edge!" Fred whispered to the others.

Hermione just smiled sadly at them and walked over to her dead husband. "Harry, come on time to wake up now"

Now even Charlie was getting worried. The girl had totally flipped. He was about to call for help when Harry suddenly sat bolt upright in her arms and looked around in confusion.

"What happened? Where is he?"

"Shhhs, it's okay, he's gone." Hermione said gently. The rest of the group were looking at the pair with fear and disbelief on their faces. Even Molly and Arthur were looking at them despite their grief.

"Would someone please tell me what the FUCK is going on?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Let's get indoors, and we will explain."

Harry stood up as if nothing had happened despite the blood all over his shirt, and walked over to Percy. "Let me have him Mrs Weasley."

He gently took him off Mrs Weasley as if weighed nothing at all, and with the rest of the family following behind the sad procession made its way back to the warmth of the Burrow.

IY – IY - IY

It was a sad group that had gathered around the kitchen table. Percy had been sent to St Mungo's until the funeral could be arranged. The Healer had given Mrs Weasley a slight calming potion when he had come to collect the body and she was now sat with her head on Mr Weasleys shoulder.

"Could someone please tell me what just happened and what has happened to Ron?" Arthur asked

Harry took a deep breath, and felt Hermione take his hand in support.

"Mr Weasley, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this but as far as we understand it Ron is dead." At this Molly burst into another wave of tears, and it took another calming potion and a strong brandy to calm her down. To be fair, Mr Weasley and his remaining sons also had a swig of the brandy bottle, but no one held it against them.

"Can you explain that Harry if that's who you really are, it seems that I have lost two sons today, and I am struggling to keep it together?" Mr Weasley still had his wand pointing at the two teens.

"Sir, from what we have been told, Ron was killed by the demon that inhabits his body when he was ten years of age. Apparently it's a type of vampire that feeds of negative emotion, and it was trying to keep us apart and feed off our misery. It seems that when we got together it decided to take things a little faster. I'm so sorry for your loss and I promise you we will do everything to stop the monster."

Mr and Mrs Weasley had tears streaming down their faces as they heard that there youngest son was not even human.

"What do you mean 'got together?'" Mr Weasley asked.

"Well sir, Hermione and I are married and bonded magically."

"MARRIED?" Mrs Weasley cried out, half in shock, but otherwise quite pleased. She had once harboured a desire to see Harry get together with Ginny, but she knew deep in her heart that Harry had always been in love with Hermione. She had toyed with the idea of using a love potion for Harry and Ginny, but immediately dismissed it as cruel. Love potions don't create real love; they can only be used to speed things along a bit if the couple already have a desire to be with each other. She soon realised that it would be doing them both a disservice and neither would be truly happy and so had decided to let things take their natural course.

"Yes Mrs Weasley, we both made magical vows to each other the other day, and we believe that we are magically married and bonded for all eternity, in our case quite literally, to each other." Hermione answered shyly, causing raised eyebrows at her odd phrase.

Harry carried on his conversation."It seems that we were destined to be together and the creature was working to keep us apart. That way all the misery we would feel would feed him for decades. When we were left alone for a while in the tent, I decided to take the first step and since then Hermione and I have been together. When the creature found out, well let's just say things turned ugly."

"Why what happened?" Mr Weasley asked.

The two looked at each other. They had discussed this earlier and had decided that the Weasleys deserved to know the truth about them. They owed it to the memory of the friend they had never met.

"Well, the creature stabbed me in the chest, and then slashed Hermione throat, before leaving us for dead."

"Merlin! That's was Ron, er the Creature said happened, but how did you survive, and how did you survive the knife this evening. You were dead but now you're not, how...Oh Shit! Your Vampires aren't you?" Mr Weasley was hastily stepping back as the others all raised their wands to point at the couple.

Harry held up his hands. "First of all, no we are not vampires, if we were we wouldn't of been able to be outside in the sunlight today would we? And second, we didn't survive the first attack, we were both killed and we were dead for over twelve hours. "

Startled shouts broke out at this revelation. Most of the Weasleys were backing away from the pair as it they were some sort of evil creatures. All of a sudden, Fawkes flamed in and flew around the room singing his beautiful song before landing on the shoulders of the pair. Everyone knew that a phoenix would not land on any evil creature.

"Everyone, please!" Harry shouted trying to calm everyone down. "We do not fully understand it ourselves, but it appears that both Hermione and I are now immortal. We cannot be killed by normal methods. We woke up terrified and confused after the attack, but we were told by Fawkes here everything that we needed to know. We cannot tell you anymore at the moment cos we don't know any more, but please believe us when we tell you that we are still the Harry and Hermione that you know."

"Oh sweet Merlin!" Molly whispered. This news was too much for her and she fainted dead away. The twins looked startled and frightened. Charlie was looking at the pair with interest, despite the grief evident on his face at the loss of two of his siblings.

"How did this happen?" he asked.

"We really don't know, but we now know it to be true. Hermione has 'died' twice now, and this is my third time. What we do know is that it hurts like buggery as we can still feel the pain. I must admit to been terrified about been alone for a long time, but both Hermione and I had made magical vows to be together for all eternity, so that makes it al lot more liveable with."

Silence reigned for a while whilst Mr Weasley brought his wife around and more brandy was handed out, this time both Harry and Hermione took a swig.

"How are we going to deal with this? We have to bury Percy and now we know Ron is dead but we cannot even bury him. And who is going to tell Ginny and Bill?" Molly wailed.

"Where is Ginny?" Harry asked.

"She's with Luna over at her house" Fred answered.

"SHIT! The creature may go after Ginny, and that means there both in danger. Harry we have to go!" Hermione cried.

Harry was already on his feet, pulling Hermione up. "Where do the Lovegood's live? We have to get there as soon as possible."

The remaining Weasleys all stood, wands drawn. "We'll show you." Arthur replied.

"It's too dangerous, just tell us and we'll go."

"Not a chance, we've lost two today, I do NOT intend to lose any more. My family will fight for our loved ones, and that includes you two. Now are you two coming or not? The Lovegood's live across the hill; we can apparate there in seconds." Arthur replied with anger evident in his expression.

Harry and Hermione looked at the family in front of them with love and pride. They had just lost two of their own but they all had a determined look in their eyes as they prepared to fight for what was right.

"Okay, come on then, you will have to take us as we do not know where the house is." They all walked out to the back of the house and Molly held Hermione's arm whilst Arthur took Harry's. With a pop they all vanished ready for what would await them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven – Ginny and Luna**

With a pop the group appeared in front of an odd looking house. It looked a lot like a massive chess piece, but with a large steeple window on the front of the house. What was immediately apparent was that someone had just attacked the house. There was a large hole in the side of the building with smoke billowing out from the side. The entrance door was hanging on its hinges and the body of an oddly dressed man was lying in the mud near the steps.

"Xeno!" Arthur cried out, letting go of Harry and rushing up the prone body. He quickly checked Xenophilius over and shouted. "He's alive, we need healers here quick. Can someone go and check for the girls."

"I'll go" Harry shouted as Molly apparated away to get some healers from St Mungos. Harry cautiously entered the house, followed by Hermione.

"Mione this could be dangerous" he warned.

"What are they going to do to me, kill me?"

"Don't get smart, we can still die with one well placed killing curse."

"Yes I know but if you die, I die so quit your complaining, now come on let's find the girls." And she pushed past him, wand out. Muttering to himself about headstrong women, Harry followed. The house was dark so they used their wandless magic to create light balls on their hands to provide some light. Downstairs was a mess, there was debris everywhere, evidence of a large struggle. There was no sign however of Luna or Ginny. They moved upstairs, first to Xenophilius's bedroom which was empty and then to Luna's. In Luna's they found Ginny badly wounded from a cutting curse and unconscious.

"UP HEAR, WE NEED A HEALER!" Harry shouted, and soon they were joined by Madam Pomfrey who explained she was visiting St Mungo's when Molly arrived so came back with her. She rushed over to the fallen girl and started casting spells on her, healing the cuts. With Harry's help they levitated her to the bed and Madam Pomfrey grabbed a potion from her bag and forced it down the girl's throat using magic to allow her to swallow it. All the while Harry sat with Ginny looking anxious. His feelings for the petite red-head confused. He had loved this girl, and still did but not in the same way. She was more like a sister than an ex lover. They became aware of Mr and Mrs Weasley stood at the doorway, looking very anxious.

"She will be fine Molly, I've healed the wounds and given her a blood replenishing potion. She has had the Cruciatus curse used on her several time so she will need to be sedated for a while, but she will recover."

"How's Luna's dad?" Hermione asked

"He will be okay as well, he had the Cruciatus curse used but other than that he is okay. He told us that Deatheaters attacked and took Luna with them to stop him printing anything in the Quibbler that might help the resistance. He thought that they'd killed Ginny as a warning. She would of died as well if you hadn't of got here when you did, it was a close thing." The nurse replied.

"Damm, they got Luna! Shit! Does he know where they took her?" Harry swore.

"Not for certain, but he thought he heard one of them say that they were taking her to 'Dickless's' place, whatever that means." The healer replied.

"Malfoy's!" Hermione whispered.

"I'm not sure I want to know how you know that Miss Grainger"

"It's Mrs Potter now Madam Pomfrey, and no you're better off not knowing" she replied with a sudden grin.

The nurse contemplated the two youngsters sat with her before grinning. "Merlin, it's good to see you two, I just wish the circumstances could be better."

Both Harry and Hermione smiled at the healer warmly.

"What are we going to do now Harry? We cannot let the Weasleys go back home now that Ron know where they are, he will kill them, and we cannot leave Luna's dad here."

"What about taking them all to Potter cottage, it's safe and big enough?"

"Great idea Harry. Madam Pomfrey? How long before we can move Ginny?"

"Well we can move her now if you want; I think getting her somewhere safe is more important."

Harry stood and looked at the two grieving Weasleys at the door.

"Mr and Mrs Weasley, I cannot tell you how sorry I am about Percy, I only wish we had got to you sooner and we may have prevented his death."

"Harry, please do not blame yourself, you did not kill Percy or Ron, it was the creature that killed them both" Mr Weasley replied with tears in his eyes. Madam Pomfrey's eyebrows had risen at the conversation and Harry could hear Hermione filling the healer in with some of the details. They had both decided not to tell anyone else about their immortality at this stage, but the healer deserved to know some of the details.

"Thank you Sir, I think it would be a good idea if you were all to come with us to my house, I just found out that I own a cottage and its very well protected. Only my wife and I can currently see it but we can take you there you can stay there whilst Hermione and I look for Luna. Despite everything we still have to complete our tasks to destroy Voldemort before we can look for Ron."

Everyone except for Hermione flinched at Harry's use of Voldemort's name, but Mr Weasley nodded at Harry. "Thank you Harry for the offer, I guess it's too dangerous for us at the Burrow at the moment. I will take the boys back to pack some things; if you could take Molly, Xeno and Ginny and then come back for us please?"

Molly went over to Madam Pomfrey to discuss the treatments for Ginny, whilst Hermione went downstairs to apparate Xeno Lovegood to the cottage. She was quickly back stating that she had placed him in one of the bedrooms to recover and within moments, Harry had picked Ginny up, whilst Hermione took Molly arm. They appeared in the main hall way of the cottage and Harry carried Ginny up to one of the other bedrooms, closely followed by Molly. Once they had settled Ginny into a bed, leaving her with Molly, Harry and Hermione went to the kitchen to discuss what to do next.

"Harry, we need to find Luna and quick. I cannot bear to think what those animals will do to her."

"Do you know where the Malfoy's live?"

"Not a clue, you?"

"Nope, let me think for a while."

The conversation ceased as both teens thought about how to find Luna. Suddenly Hermione started to cry as her emotions caught up with her.

"Sorry Harry. I was just thinking about Percy and I couldn't help myself. I never really liked him that much but no one deserved to die like that, no one!"

Harry moved and embraced the distraught girl. He ran his fingers through her hair as he kissed her gently.

"It's okay 'Mione, it's alright to grieve. God know Percy could be a prat, but his heart was in the right place, and your right – no one deserves to die like that. We will stop 'Ron' but we first have to defeat Voldemort. Just another monster to add to our to-do list."

Hermione snorted out a burst of laughter despite herself. She could always rely on Harry to make her smile.

"Idiot! But your right, we cannot let 'Ron' get away with this, we will have to stop him...any idea on how?"

"Zippo, as far as we know he is damm well near immortal, but once we have Voldy out of the way then I'm sure with a bit of the old 'Hermione research' we can find something."

Hermione laughed at the 'Hermione research' comment before resting her head on Harry's shoulder.

"I Love you, you know?"

"Yes, and I love you too Hermione"

"Some wedding day this is turning out to be!"

"Well I will make it up to you tonight, if you are lucky! I'll even cook you a meal, I'm sure we can get Do..."

Suddenly Harry sat bolt upright causing Hermione to fall to one side. Harry stood up looking very excited.

"I know how to find where the Malfoy's live...Dobby!"

With a 'pop' the diminutive House Elf appeared in the room. "The great master Harry called for me, how can Dobby help you today master Harry?"

Harry smiled at eager young House Elf that was practically bouncing on his feet in front of him. "Dobby, it's good to see you, how are you doing?"

"Master asks Dobby how he is; Oh Master is a good wizard. Dobby is very well and happy that Master Harry is asking after him."

"And how is Winky?"

Dobby's face fell, and looked up at Harry with sad eyes. "Winky is not well, she is drinking more and more and Dobby does not think she will last much longer without a Master or Mistress."

Hermione looked up at this news. "Doesn't she like been free Dobby?"

"Oh no, Mistress Hermyny. A House Elf needs to have a family to stay strong and to keep our magic. Without a master or mistress we will grow weak and die Miss."

Now it was Harry's turn to be startled. "But Dobby what about you?"

Dobby managed to look downhearted and worried at the same time. "I am a bad elf, I have worried Master Harry, I must punish myself" and he raised his hand as it to hit himself, before Harry caught it gently in his.

"There will be no punishments today, or any other day for that matter. Now Dobby answer my question, are you suffering from not been bonded?"

With a little squeak Dobby slowly nodded his head, his large eyes expectant.

"Why didn't you say anything Dobby?"

"Dobby didn't want to worry Master Harry."

Hermione looked over at Harry with a resigned expression on her face, as well as a slightly concerned one. She had spent years trying to convince people that the House Elves needed to be free without any thought for the effect it would have on them. The fact that they needed to be bonded to be well had never crossed her mind. Sure they needed to be treated better, and she would campaign for that for as long as she needed to, but the fact that they needed to be bonded struck her hard. She slowly nodded at Harry's unasked question.

"Dobby, would you like to become my house elf?" Harry asked almost hesitantly, knowing the elf would be very happy to accept. Harry wasn't disappointed. Dobby's eyes filled up with tears and in an awed voice he said, "Master Harry would have Dobby as his elf, Master Harry is the best wizard in the world. Dobby would be honoured to be Harry's elf."

"Dobby, how do I accept you as my elf?"

"All Master has to do is to say that you take Dobby as your elf, and the magic will do the rest."

"Dobby before I do this, you will not be a slave, you will have time off and you will be paid, is this acceptable?"

Dobby nodded, and so Harry formally stated, "I Harry James Potter do take Dobby to be my House Elf" with a sudden glow Harry felt the bond take and Dobby was his.

"Dobby, can you call Winky for us please?"

"Dobby will have to go get her, Dobby doesn't think she can come herself." Dobby replied sadly

With a 'pop' he was gone only to return seconds later with Winky in his arms. She was so weak that she could barely open her eyes. It was obvious to all that she did not have long left. Hermione's eyes filled with tears at the sad sight. Kneeling she took Winky from Dobby and held her close.

"Winky, Can you hear me?"

There was a slight nod from the Elf. "Winky, I Hermione Jean Potter do take you to be my House Elf, if you want me to."

With a glow the elf, slowly managed to clamber to her feet, she stood wavering slightly but growing stronger by the second. Soon she was stood as tall as she could with tears running unashamedly down her face.

"Oh Mistress Hermione, thank you, without you Winky would of died. Thank you!"

"Winky as Dobby is Harry's, you are mine but you are not a slave. You will never punish yourself, and you will take time off when you need. I will be paying you, is this acceptable?"

Winky thought about it for a second before nodding furiously. Hermione pulled the startled elf into a hug and kissed her cheek.

"Both of you need to know that Harry and I will be alive for a very long time, it seems that we are immortal and I hope you will be happy with us."

Dobby looked at Winky before speaking. "Master Harry, Mistress Hermyny, House Elf's live a long time but we cannot live forever. With your permission may Dobby take Winky as Dobby's bride? Our children will be your elves for eternity if we are allowed?"

Winky was smiling at Dobby and tentatively took his hand before looking up at her new mistress, hope in her eyes. With a happy smile both Harry and Hermione have their permission.

"Dobby, I need you to do something for me. I need you to take Hermione and me to your old masters house. He has taken a friend of ours and we need to get her back as soon as possible."

Dobby looked apprehensive. "Bad men at old Masters house, very bad men."

"Yes we know, but we still need to do this, it's very important."

Dobby nodded slowly. Harry carried on, "Winky can you stay here with Mrs Weasley and Ginny. Ginny has been hurt and Mrs Weasley is looking after her. Dobby, once you've taken us to Malfoy manor, can you come back here to get Mr Weasley, the twins and Charlie. They will be staying here for a while." Dobby nodded.

"Hermione do we need anything?"

Hermione looked into her ever present beaded bag and checked. She pulled out the invisibility cloak, handing it to Harry. "No I think we have everything. Are you happy with your wandless magic?" Harry nodded in reply and they both took one of Dobby's arms

"Dobby will take you to a forested corner of the grounds, just inside the wards. You will have to make your own way to the house though."

"Don't worry Dobby, I have the perfect way of getting in."

With a pop the three were gone.

Two large black panthers slowly made their way towards the large foreboding looking house. They silently made their way across the manicured lawns, using whatever cover they could find. Soon the pair found themselves close to the house and entered via a servant's entrance around the back of the house. Blurring the two cats changed to their human forms and quickly threw the cloak over themselves.

Whispering Harry asked Hermione if she knew where to look. Dobby had given them a rough plan of the building before he left them.

"I would guess the cellars would be the best place. Hang on a moment though." She thought about the spell before almost silently whispering " _Homenum Revelio._ There are eleven people on this level, and four downstairs. Come on, let's go to the cellars."

Slowly and carefully the pair made their way to the entrance to the cellar, using the "point me" charm as well as the hastily drawn map. Soon they reached the entrance only to find that it was guarded by a Death Eater, Nott by the look of him.

"What do we do?" Hermione whispered to Harry.

"Well whatever we do we have to be quiet; we do not need more of these gits here." As he thought an idea came to him. He raised his hand and silently cast a body bind spell at the Death Eater followed by a strong stunner. Nott froze and fell back against the wall, effectively propping him up. Because the bond bind had been cast first, his eyes were wide open and to the casual observer it looked like he was still guarding the door. Hermione smiled and nodded in approval at her husband's actions.

"Come on love." He whispered, and they both moved cautiously down the stairs to the cellars below the house. Pausing only to cast another revealing spell, they discovered that Pettigrew was on guard on one of the door that led off the main cellar. Assuming this to be the one that Luna and the others were been kept behind. Harry once more cast a soundless bond-bind at the traitor. This time however, as he walked up to the man who had betrayed his parents, he could help but to savagely punch the man in the stomach, before stunning him. He could see the pain and fear in the elder mans eyes, and just before he stunned him he whispered to him, "I will see you in Azkaban and see you being kissed by a Dementor. I will not dirty myself by killing you myself; you are not worth the magic."

Hermione had managed to open to door and slowly entered the dark dingy room. Inside three figures were chained to the wall. The first was Ollivander who looked very unwell, his grey hair covering his face as he barely breathed. The second was a small goblin, who Harry recognised at Griphook, the goblin he had first met when he went to the magical bank all those years ago. The Goblin was unconscious, a large bruise evident on his head. The third figure was very much awake; Luna Lovegood was chained to the wall, her silver-grey eyes alert and scared. She was however gagged as well as bound. She seemed desperately trying to convey a message to the pair with her eyes.

Harry and Hermione entered the room fully and quickly went over to the prisoners; Hermione went to Ollivander to assess the old wandmakers condition whilst Harry went over to Luna. She was desperate now, her whole head shaking back and forth with agitation. Her eyes wide and pleading and she was shaking almost uncontrollably. Harry gently tried to remove the gag, "Shush Luna, its okay. We will have you out of here before you know it."

As he managed to remove the gag, Luna immediately shouted at him. "Harry, get out of here. It's a trap!" As soon as the words were out of here mouth, the cellar door slammed shut and alarms sounded. Both Harry and Hermione could feel anti-apparition wards slam around them. Technically they felt they could breach the wards themselves with their new powers, but as they were untested and leaving the prisoners behind was a definite no, they stood to face the new challenge.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry" Luna cried. Hermione looked around in anger. She had managed to free Ollivander and was helping him sit on the floor. "Harry, how could we be so stupid?"

"Hermione, never mind that now, quick put on the cloak. They think your dead; let's use that to our advantage." He took a small twig from the floor and transfigured it to a replica of a wand just as the door to the cellar was been opened. He heard Hermione throw on the invisibility cloak and he turned to face the door, 'wand' drawn. The door opened and stood in the doorway was Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and two other Deatheaters, all pointing wands at him.

"Drop the wand Potter!" Malfoy told him in a strangely effeminate voice. Harry couldn't help but to snigger at the man's oddly altered voice. It was obvious that Hermione's cutting curse had removed more than just the man's penis.

"Drop it NOW!" the eunuch repeated. Shrugging Harry threw the 'wand' at the Deatheaters and slowly raised his hands.

"You fool Potter, so predictable. Always playing the hero, well we have you now and the Dark Lord will be very happy to see you. Now that we have you we no longer need to girl." He raised his wand and looked at Luna with murder in his eyes. "AVADA K..."

With a sudden explosion, Hermione's spell caused the Deatheaters to fly back into the large room behind the door. Harry wandless cast a shield spell over the prisoners and quickly followed the death-eaters into the larger room. They had recovered quickly and were raising their wands. Hermione threw off the cloak and stood with Harry.

"YOU!? How is that possible? I killed you"

"Well if it isn't the dickless wonder! Looks like you cannot kill a woman as well as fuck one anymore!"

Bellatrix was laughing, not only her usual mad cackle designed to put people off, but a genuine laugh at her companions distress. She really hated Lucius and had found his fate immensely funny. The taunting by the impossible woman really made her giggle. She would just shave to show the idiotic eunuch how to really kill a woman. However Lucius's temper had got the better of him.

"You FUCKING BITCH, look what you did to me? AVADA KEDAVRA!" The green beam of light shot towards Hermione, but with lightning reflexes Hermione ducked and the spell flew harmlessly over her head.

" _Diffindo!"_ Hermione thought and with a cutting motion of her hand the spell flew towards the 'dickless wonder" and hit him on the shoulder. The force of the spell ripped his wand arm free, spurting blood across the room. The arm complete with wand clattered to the floor. Lucius looked at the stump in disbelief before collapsing in a heap, the blood pooling around him quickly. Everyone stopped for a second, looking at the fallen Deatheater.

Bellatrix looked in anger. Despite her hatred for the blond haired ...man-let, she wasn't going to let a filthy Mudblood attack him.

"Bombarda!" she shouted at Hermione pointing her wand. The younger which flew backwards and back into the other room. She hit the back wall with a sickening crunch and landed on the floor, bleeding heavily and her eyes open and unseeing. Luna screamed as she looked her dead friend, however due to the shield that Harry had cast she could not get to Hermione.

Harry felt the death of his wife, and winced in pain before looking at the remaining Deatheaters with angry eyes. They had dismissed him as harmless due to his lack of a wand. This was not a mistake that they would make again. Wandlessly he cast spell after spell at the remaining foes. Decapitating one Deatheater outright, and incinerating the other with an elemental flame that he conjured up. Bellatrix cowered behind her strongest shield, for once in real fear for her life. As soon as Harry had dispatched the two other Deatheaters he looked at Bellatrix with a feral smile on his face, silently he summoned the elements and soon a strong wind had whipped up around him, and was moving towards the insane witch, Bellatrix now looked at Harry with real genuine fear in her eyes before she quickly cancelled the anti-apperation shields and fled, leaving the dying Lucius behind.

Harry walked over to the blond wizard and tapped him with his foot. Lucius looked up at Harry with hatred in his eyes. "At least I die knowing your mate is dead this time."

"Are you sure about that Malfoy?" with a nod of his head he indicated Hermione who was struggling to her feet, the blood still evident on her clothes but no obvious injuries seen.

"How? Who are you two?" Malfoy whispered in pain and fear.

"Your worst nightmare, you bastard." Harry whispered back to the dying man. With a last intake of breath, Lucius Malfoy died.

Harry cancelled the shield guarding the prisoners. Luna ran over to Hermione and threw herself at the older witch.

"How did you do that, I saw you die, your aura disappeared?" she asked in confusion

Hermione hugged the crying witch. "Hey, it's a kind of magic!" she replied.

Harry walked over to the others in the cell. Taking Ollivander by the shoulders and levitating the still unconscious goblin, he called for Dobby. With a pop the elf appeared.

"Can you take Griphook to the cottage while we bring these two please?"

"Dobby will do that Master Harry." And he took hold of the leg of the goblin and vanished. Harry looked over at the dead Malfoy before turning to his bride who was still comforting the distraught Luna.

"Ready love?"

"Let's get out of here"

And with a loud pop, they vanished.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight – War Councils**

It was very late when everyone arrived back at the cottage. It seemed that everyone was trying to talk at once, that was until Harry shouted for silence. Carefully lowering the elderly wandmaker in a chair, he stood up and faced the people stood in front of him.

"Dobby, can you go get Madam Pomfrey please, we need her healing skills. Can everyone else please calm down and we will explain what happened as soon as we can. Molly, can you go wake Mr Lovegood, I have a feeling that Luna will want to see him."

Luna was still been held by Hermione as she sobbed against the older girl, arms wrapped around her looking like she would never let go. With a 'pop', Dobby vanished and Mrs Weasley ran upstairs to wake Xenophilius. As she passed the room Ginny was resting in, she shouted to her husband that Harry was back. She ran in the other room, and gently roused Xenophilius.

"Xeno...Xeno! Wake up. Harry and Hermione are back, they've brought Luna back with them."

Like a shot the colourfully dressed wizard was stood up and almost running down the stairs. As much as he lived in a different world to most people, brought on by the grief from losing his wife, Xenophilius Lovegood loved his daughter more than life itself. As he ran to the main hallway downstairs, he was crying for Luna.

"Daddy!" Luna shouted and flung herself at her father. "Daddy, are you okay? Oh Merlin! How's Ginny?" she cried.

With a soft 'pop' Dobby returned with Madam Pomfrey in tow. The whole scene was one of chaos, with Xeno and Luna crying in the centre of the room, The Weasleys all stood together, and Madam Pomfrey looking around in bewilderment. She quickly spotted Mr Ollivander and her professionalism soon kicked in.

Half an hour later things had calmed down a little. Griphook had been treated and was resting on the sofa in the lounge. Word had been sent to Gringotts and a delegation had promised to be available to visit in the morning. Luna and her father had retired to bed, but not before both had thanked Harry and Hermione profusely. Luna had looked oddly at Harry and Hermione and was about to ask some questions when Hermione promised her to speak in the morning. The Weasleys had all retired with Charlie sitting with Ginny for the night. Ginny was expected to wake in the morning, and that presented Harry with a problem on how to tell her about Hermione. He was expecting fire-works and not the kind the twins made.

At the moment, Hermione was sat with Madam Pomfrey talking quietly.

"Hermione, I'm very worried about Mr Ollivander. He's quite old and he has been tortured quite extensively. I have managed to heal his body's wounds, but it's his state of mind I'm worried about. It's like he's given up and there's nothing I can do to stop it, unless he makes an effort."

"Let him sleep tonight, we'll try tomorrow to help him. Thank you for your help tonight. Do you wish Dobby to take you back or do you want to stay here for the night?"

"What are your plans for tomorrow if I may ask?"

"We are planning a council of war. Things are happening fast and we need all of our allies. I've sent Dobby and Winky to let the remaining Order member know and we will meet here tomorrow at eleven."

"Well in that case I would like return to Hogwarts tonight, but I would like to return tomorrow if I may. Hogwarts is not a pleasant place at the moment, and I am needed every night to treat students who have been errr entertained by the Carrow's and their merry band of Slytherin Bastards. If I can, would it be possible to bring Minerva with me?"

"Poppy, she was always on the list and Hogwarts was one of the items on the agenda; both Harry and I believe that some spring cleaning is required."

"Thank Merlin for that, what with them and that slime ball Snape...sorry Headmaster Snape, Hogwarts is not the place it once was."

"Don't worry; Sniverlus is getting what is coming to him very soon."

"Now if you two would excuse me, I must be going. See you tomorrow." And with that Winky took her back to the school.

Harry looked at Hermione in the dim light with concern. "You okay love?"

"Yeah, I will be. Harry, do me a favour will you?"

"Anything my love."

"Take me to bed and make love to me all night, and please let's try to avoid been mutilated, frozen or attacked by Deatheaters this time?"

With a laugh, Harry picked up his lovely bride in his arms and carried her up the stairs to the master bedroom. With a nudge from his foot, he opened the door and carried her to the large bed. Wandlessly the door shut and the candles in the room lit. With another thought he removed all their clothes leaving them both naked.

Hermione looked at Harry with a predatory look. "Now Mr Potter, I believe I was just about to make love to you, when we were rudely interrupted this morning. Now where was I?"

They made love four times before exhaustion overtook them. Immortal they may be but even immortals needed sleep and tomorrow was going to be a long day.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was a happy Harry, complete with ridiculous goofy smile that walked down the stairs the following morning, closely followed by a rather oddly walking Hermione. Even though she was walking like she'd just spent a few hours on horseback she was also wearing a resplendent goofy smile. As they entered the kitchen to get breakfast, the only person up to witness them was Mrs Weasley and Charlie, who was nursing a large mug of strong coffee.

With a smile, and a small blush Hermione sat down with an audible groan and a large wince she looked up at Mrs Weasley

"Morning, any chance of a coffee?" she whispered.

With a knowing smile, Mrs Weasley placed a cup of coffee and a vial of potion next to the younger woman. With a sad smile she motioned towards the potion.

"It's for sore muscles, after your busy day yesterday I figured you would need some." She managed to say this with a straight face, although the delight in seeing the two youngsters together, somewhat dulling the incredible sadness in her heart. She had not slept well and had arisen early, only to find Charlie downstairs crying for all he was worth. Charlie was not one for sharing his emotions and had held everything that had happened to his family in for as long as he could, but like every emotional dam, it had to break at sometime and break it did. Mrs Weasley had spent a long hour comforting her son, whilst at the same time he had comforted her. They had both mourned the loss of two of their own and felt the stronger for it. Charlie, before he left the Burrow had sent an owl to Bill, and he was expected at the meeting today; neither was looking forward to breaking the news to him.

Harry had sat down with his wife and poured himself a mug of coffee, and watched as Hermione downed the potion in one gulp. She pulled a face at the taste, but quickly smiled as her aches and pains were soothed away.

"I want to thank you two for all your help yesterday." Molly started, but was interrupted by Harry.

"We don't deserve any thanks, if we had got to you sooner than we could have saved Percy, I'm so sorry about that."

"HARRY POTTER, JUST YOU STOP THERE! If you had been any later, than it's possible that all the Weasleys would have been dead. Ginny defiantly, according to Poppy, she was only half an hour away from dying."

"But Ron..."

"Ron nothing! Were you there when that fucking demon killed him? No! You hadn't even met any of us then, so don't apologize for that monster. I have to accept the fact that Ron died years ago, and that THING is not my son. Harry and you too Hermione, we owe you our lives, and I for one thank the day we met you both. I know you two are going to live for a very long time, long after we are gone. When all this is over, please do me a favour - In the centuries that follow, please remember us."

Harry had tears running down his face, "Always Molly, always."

With a sniff and a rub of his eyes, Harry looked around. "Who's for breakfast?" He got up to cook breakfast, aided by both Mrs Weasley and Winky. Soon the smell of cooking breakfast brought down a good number of people with the exception of Ginny and Mr Ollivander.

As they sat, Mr Weasley looked up at Harry and spoke.

"Harry, Hermione I need to thank you on behalf of my family for what both you and Hermione did for us yesterday. I know that Molly has already spoken to you but I needed to add my thanks. Also I need a favour. Ginny is awake and I have told her the situation about Ron and Percy. I haven't told her about you and Hermione yet, but she is asking to see you. I know this will be difficult, but could you talk to her?"

Harry sighed, he knew that this moment was coming, but he still dreaded it. "Off course sir, has she had any breakfast?"

"No son, she hasn't." Arthur replied, recognising Harry's unhappiness about what he had to do.

"I only wish I didn't have to do this on top of everything else you guys have been through. I'll take a tray up for her." As he stood a full breakfast tray appeared which he picked up. Hermione got up to follow him but Harry turned around and stopped her.

"Mione, I need to do this one on my own. I may need you later, but for the moment I'd better go alone."

Hermione thought for a while and then nodded. "Ok love; call me if you need me."

Harry carried the tray up to the room Ginny was using and softly knocked on the door, hearing a quite "come in" Harry opened the door to find Ginny say on the bed in tears. Harry put the tray down on a small table and approached the distraught girl. She looked up and saw him for the first time.

"HARRY!" she cried and practically flew to him and threw her arms around him, her tears wetting his shirt. She was sobbing uncontrollably all the while trying to talk, but only stuttered words coming out.

"Ginny, Ginny! Shush. It's okay, your fine now."

Ginny was now trying to kiss Harry, but he kept stopping her. "Ginny you've got to stop that, please Gin, calm down. We need to talk."

With those immortal words; the words any person dreads to hear from a loved one, Ginny's world collapsed once more. She sat down stunned that her beloved spurned her advances, and really looked at him for the first time since he entered the room. She could see that something had changed, something very profound, and it scared her.

"Harry, what is it? Something is different isn't it?" she asked, the tears still in her eyes.

Harry sighed and looked at her sadly. He really did like the girl in front of him, at one time he thought he loved her, but now he realised that whilst he did love her, it was the love a brother had for a sister.

"Yes, Ginny. Things are different know. There are a few things I need to tell you, but the most important thing is that..." he paused unsure on how to put it but before he could continue Ginny surprised him.

"You and Hermione? Yes?"

Surprised Harry nodded and put his head down. "I'm sorry Ginny, but I love her, I think I always have."

" _I know!_ " she whispered.

Harry's head jerked up and looked her in the eye. "You do? How?"

"I might be a red-head and hot headed from time to time, but I am a woman and I can tell when someone loves someone else. Why do you think I let you go so easily, you love me but not the way I wanted you to, and not the way I love you...Oh and I do love you, and this is killing me but there is something else isn't there? Some other reason why we cannot be?"

"Bloody hell, when did you start channelling Luna?"

With a sad laugh Ginny replied, "Well I have been spending a lot of time with her recently. Now spill it Harry."

"Ginny, even if I did love you the way you want me to, we could never be together. Something happened the other day to Hermione and I. Your dad told you about Ron?"

With a sniff she nodded.

"Well you know we have been on a mission from Dumbledore don't you?" At her nod he continued. "Well one night we were dancing to some music, you see the creature we thought was Ron had a massive argument with us and had left. Mione was upset so I tried to cheer her up you know, by goofing about and dancing. Anyway once thing led to another and I kissed her and well..." he broke of blushing. Ginny just nodded, the tears falling down her face.

"Go on Harry" she croaked

"Well anyway we were ...well you know, when Ron burst in and well it wasn't Ron, it had jet black eyes and it was really mad. Anyway he slashed Hermione throat and stabbed me in the chest. We both died, and I mean really died."

Ginny was looking at Harry in shock and horror, with a little amount of fear thrown in. Harry carried on his tale in a dispassionate voice.

"Apparently we were visited by some being who didn't want us to be dead, apparently we have work to do. Anyway he brought us back but both of us are different.. and no before you ask we are not vampires! We are immortal; we cannot die and will never age. Can you see why this means I cannot be with you? You will live a long life as a witch, but you will grow old and eventually pass over, I will not do that, and even if I did love you the way you want me to, it would kill me to watch you grow old. Merlin! This is hard! This is what Voldy wants? It's going to be horrible to see all our friends, our family and even our kids grow old and die, Oh God what if we cannot have kids? That would kill Mione. Who wants to live forever? It's just as much a curse as it is a blessing. If I didn't have Mione to share it with I don't know what I would do." Harry said with the tears falling down his face as he ranted.

Ginny listened with a look of pure astonishment on her face as Harry poured out his heart. She looked at him for a few seconds before taking him in her arms and holding him.

"Oh Harry! I'm so sorry, I know you love Hermione and I'm happy for you, I really am. I wish it was me, but I can see why you cannot love me. It hurts so much though!"

"Gin, I do love you, I love you like a sister. I know it's not what you wanted but it's all I have."

They both cried for a little while before Ginny let him go and wiped her eyes.

"So, you're immortal then? What's that like?" she asked as if she was asking about the weather.

Harry looked at her and thought about the absurdity of the question, and this made him giggle a little before laughing out loud. Soon the pair of them were laughing uncontrollably at the silliness of the whole conversation. After a while they both got there laughter under control.

"Seriously, what it like Harry?"

"Well, it hurts like shit to die, and we are both still very scared. There's something else I need to tell you. After we realised that we are going to be together forever, well we sorta made marriage vows to each other and it seems that we may be magically married... Gin you ok?"

Ginny had stopped; she had frozen and was staring ahead with a odd look on her face. Eventually she whispered, "Married? You're married?"

"I think so Gin, sorry." Harry replied

Ginny finally slumped back into the chair totally defeated. Even when he was telling her about the immortality part of her still thought they could be together, but this changed everything. She wasn't a fool and she knew the penalty for deliberately breaking a marriage vow, even if she could get him to break it. As she looked at him she saw the love he had for Hermione shining in his eyes and eventually, finally she accepted it – he wasn't ever going to be hers. This was almost a cathartic moment for her, she almost felt relieved but also intensely sad at the same time. She spent a few minutes looking at him in minute detail, almost as if she was preserving her memory of him.

"Harry, do you think I can have a few moments alone please? I promise I'm not going to do anything silly, but I just need to be alone for a bit."

"Off course Ginny, I've left some breakfast for you on the table, we are all meeting at eleven to have a war council, and I would like you to be there please."

Harry stood to leave and was near the door when she spoke again. "Thank you for saving me Harry, Mum tells me I would have died if you would have been any later."

"No problem Gin, any time."

Harry opened the door and left, gently closing it behind him. Ginny looked at the closed door before whispering to herself "I love you Harry, I always will." Before bursting into tears and curling up into a ball on the bed, her pillow clutched to her breast.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry left Ginny's room to find Hermione sat outside waiting for him.

"You okay love?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, it was harder than I expected but she took it okay. She's hurting at the moment, but I think she will get over it in time."

Hermione nestled into her husband and gently kissed him.

"You are a very kind and special man, you know that?"

"I'm not sure about that, but I just don't like seeing the people I care about getting hurt."

Hermione kissed him before taking his hand. "We need to see Luna before the meeting love, come on."

She led him to the room that Luna had been using and knocked on the door.

"Come in Hermione." Came the reply from the room. Hermione raised his eyes at this and Harry smiled.

"Well we were told she had the Sight."

They opened the door and let themselves in. Luna was sat cross legged in the middle of the bed. She was wearing one of the nightshirts that the elves had provided and her usual cork necklace. She had a large smile on her face as she viewed her two friends.

"Thank you both for saving me and my father. It's good that the Wrackspurt's didn't stop you from thinking."

With a smile Hermione walked over to the young girl and hugged her.

"It was a pleasure to help Luna, even if I don't know what a Wrackspurt is."

With a giggle Luna lent in towards Hermione and in a loud whisper told her, "I don't think they really exist you know, it just makes me laugh to see people's reactions."

Hermione laughed out loud at this. "I guess you will be telling me that there is no such thing as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack now?"

"Don't be silly Hermione, of course they exist...I think" she replied with a twinkle in her eye.

As Luna looked at Hermione and Harry she remembered seeing something the other day that surprised her. As she looked she activated her aura sight and screamed in surprise and covered her eyes with her hand in pain. "Oh Sweet Merlin, you two are Immortal!"

Harry and Hermione looked at her in astonishment. "How did you know Luna?" Harry asked.

"Well I can see auras and I had a quick look at yours. Most people's aura is a moving swirling glow around them; the colours are related to their personality. Yours are very, very bright and are pure white, but they are also solid, like a second skin but very large. It scared me for a second, but then I realised that it's the same sort of aura that surrounds a phoenix. As they are as near to immortal as I know then I assumed that you two must be as well...Hey that's how you survived yesterday Hermione isn't it?"

Hermione nodded, surprised at the sense the younger girl was making. Luna looked a second time at the pair and winced in pain.

"Goodness me you two are bright, it hurts to look at you, but that's odd...your linked as well...not a soul bond...Wow! You two share a life essence. That's so rare. Are you married?"

Slowly Hermione nodded at Luna, not sure what to make of the girls comments.

"Congratulations you two that's so nice, you are obviously meant for each other, by the way the fact that your auras are pure white means that you two are champions of light. Now what do you need me to find for you? The Horcrux's?"

Harry looked at Luna in amazement, "How did you know about Horcrux's?"

"Oh goody you mean I was right? The Nargles told me about them, they are really horrible aren't they?"

"OK Luna, what else do you know about them?" Hermione asked

Luna looked at Hermione for a long while before answering. When she did, it was the way in which she answered that surprised them both, gone was the spacey Luna, for a short while anyway.

"Well don't forget I am a Ravenclaw, so I am supposed to be bright, but luckily for you two I am quite a bit more than bright. I have read about the horrible things in the library, and I guessed that it was a Horcrux that kept You Know Who alive, the fact that you are still looking for them means that he must have created more than one and you need me to help you find them, Yes?"

They both nodded, too stunned to speak. Hermione was especially surprised that she had underestimated this odd girl so much.

"So how many do you think he created?" Luna asked them.

"Well we think it was seven separate Horcrux's, We have identified and destroyed four of them but that still leaves three left." Harry replied.

"Tell me about the four you've got rid of, it will tell us a lot about him in the choices he made."

"Well there was the diary that possessed Ginny in the second year, it belonged to him when he was still known as Tom Riddle; Harry destroyed it with a Basilisk fang. Then there was the ring that belonged to Marvolo Gaunt, Dumbledore destroyed that last year, but it ended up nearly killing him. Harry and I destroyed the third that was a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin."

"Okay, what about the forth…..no hang on let me guess. The forth was Harry himself, that scar on his head used to cast a blackness around his aura that I never understood, but it's gone now. When you two became immortal did you die first?"

They both nodded at Luna.

"That makes sense, when Harry died the soul fragment had to die with him, but when you came back, only you came back so you are now free of it."

Harry nodded back, totally unsure on how to tackle this.

Luna looked at the pair with a pensive look on her face; she was desperate for these two to like her and was hoping that they would accept her.

Hermione eventually spoke up, "Luna that was amazing, you are amazing. Yes we need your help finding the remaining three, will you help us come up with something."

Luna smiled at them, very pleased with the praise. "Well I will only help you on one condition."

"Yes?" Harry asked, surprised that she was putting conditions to her help.

"You let me come with you to help, and you teach me how to defend myself. I will NOT get caught like I did the other day. You can also tell me about what it's like to be immortal."

"Luna, it's going to be very dangerous. I'm not sure that if would be a good idea for you to come with us." Harry told her.

"You didn't say that when we went to the department of Mysteries did you?"

"Nooo, but this is different" Harry replied

"How? If you want my help then I'm coming along, I feel that I need to do this, I think it's very important."

Hermione looked at Harry before nodding at him. "Okay Luna, but you will need to speak to your dad first to make sure he's okay with it. Now any idea on what we are looking for?"

"Well V-V-Voldemort seems to like artifacts from the founders, so it would make sense that the others are also related to them. At the moment there is only one I can think off, but I'm sure the others will come to me in time."

When it looked like Luna wasn't going to offer the information, Harry had to ask. "Ok, what do you think the one you can think of is?"

"Oh that's easy; it will be Rowena Ravenclaw's lost Diadem…..now only if it wasn't lost."

Hermione rolled her eyes and in a patient voice, as if she was talking to a small child asked the obvious question.

"Luna, if it's lost then how do we find it?"

"Oh I have no idea…but I know who will."

After a pause that made it obvious that the information wasn't going to be forthcoming, Harry asked, "Ok who knows?"

"Oh that's easy, we need to ask her daughter, the Grey Lady. We need to go to Hogwarts. Now about you been married, tell me all…"

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was nearly eleven and all the house guests had congregated in the large dining room to await the new guests. Harry had asked Dobby and Winky to bring the new arrivals as they didn't want the location of the cottage to be known. He'd asked the Weasleys and the Lovegoods to meet them before anyone else arrived. Ginny was with them but still looking very sad, she was been held by Charlie. The twins were also sat close and not looking very happy. The only person missing at the moment was Mr Ollivander who was still in bed and Griphook who had left earlier to meet with his colleagues at Gringotts. Apparently they wanted Harry and Hermione to meet with Ragnok, the head goblin as soon as they could.

"Hermione and I need a favour from you all. Please can you keep our immortality a secret for the time been. We don't want to answer questions on it and keeping it a secret may give us an advantage in the fight. Is that ok?"

There were nods of agreement from the assembled guests, before Arthur asked Harry, "What are we going to discuss Harry, and who is coming today?"

Just as Harry was about to answer Dobby appeared with Minerva McGonagall and Poppy Pomfrey in tow. He let go of their hands and vanished again. Seconds later Winky appeared with Remus and a very pregnant Nymphadora Lupin. Within a few minutes they were joined by Kingsley Shacklebolt, Aberforth Dumbledore and lastly Bill and Fleur Weasley. As soon as Ginny saw her eldest brother she flew over to him and with a low cry she flung her arms around him.

"Bill, oh Bill...Percy...and Ron...dead!" was all she was able to stutter out.

"What? What are you talking about Gin?"

Harry looked upwards and sighed, 'Oh well, we may as well cover this first' he thought.

"If everyone can take a seat we can discuss this matter now please." He announced.

"Where are we Harry?" Kingsley asked causing a few of the others to nod in agreement.

"Ok let's start with that, Welcome to Potter cottage, this is one of my houses, and the best guarded, it's unplottable and as soon as you leave you will not be able to find the house without mine or Hermione's permission. I have asked you all here as there are things we need to discuss, things that directly affect the war against Voldemort, and yes you can say the name here. "

"Why yours or Hermione's permission?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Sod that, what's happened to my brothers?" Bill cried. He had spotted that his mother was crying against his father's shoulder and had begun to get quite agitated. It was only the presence of his lovely wife that was keeping his sane at the moment.

"Bill, I am really sorry to tell you this but Percy is dead, he was killed by a demon that killed and took over Ron's body years ago." Harry proceeded to tell the assembled witches and wizards all he knew about Ron, apart from the immortality bit.

After he had finished Bill looked up and whispered "A Soul Demon! I thought they were myths."

"Do you know about these creatures Bill?" Harry asked.

"Only a little, they are supposed to be a myth, but I guess not. They are related to the vampires but instead of blood, it's emotions and the soul that they eat, well devour really. No one knows what they are supposed to look like in their natural form because they take hosts by killing the host and taking over the body. They are meant to be really difficult to kill, maybe even impossible, and 'brother' was one all this time...Bastard!" before turning to Fleur as she held his head.

Everyone else looked shocked at the news about Ron. Professor McGonagall asked the question everyone was thinking. "What are we going to do about him?"

"Nothing at the moment, we need to get rid of Voldemort first. All we can do is let all of our friends know about Ron, and tell them if they see him, to get the hell out of there as quickly as they can. They cannot engage him at all, he WILL kill them."

"Okay Harry, you seem to know what's going on, how are we going to kill Voldemort?" Kingsley asked.

"Not 'we', me. I have to be the one who kills him, there was a prophecy, and it has to be me. However we do need some help, you see Voldemort created something's called Horcrux's..."

It was a stunned and sickened group that was left looking at each other in bewilderment when Harry had finished talking. No one spoke for a long while before Professor McGonagall looked up.

"And you think that the next one is Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem? How are you going to find that, it's lost?"

Hermione smiled at looked at her favourite teacher, "Well we have some help, it's seems that a certain young lady is a little blessed with the Sight and Luna told us we need to go to Hogwarts to speak to the Grey Lady."

"Luna? My little Luna has the Sight?" a startled Xenophilius asked.

With a shy smile Luna looked at her father, "Yes Daddy, I got it from Mummy, you don't mind do you?"

"Of course I don't mind poppet, you are amazing, just like your mother. She would be so proud of you, I know I am."

Luna started to cry at this, as did a few others. Once everyone gave them a moment Professor McGonagall looked pensive as she spoke. "Hogwarts may be a problem; it's not safe for anyone other than the Slytherins at the moment. Snape is a monster and he has the Carrows and a few Slytherins patrolling the school. Reports of torture and rape are widespread. Filius, Pomona, Poppy and myself try to stop as much as we can but we have very little power at the moment."

"Don't worry Professor, you leave those three to us, we have a few surprises up our sleeves. It's time to take back what's ours." Harry asked for the help of the others in trying to keep Voldemort's forces busy so he, Hermione and Luna could achieve their goals. He asked if Bill could research as much as he could about Soul Demons and ways in which to defeat them before Harry asked if there was any other business to consider.

Professor McGonagall asked if Harry could explain the comment about Hermione and him. With a smile Harry almost shyly answered her.

"Ma'am, Hermione and I finally figured it out, we love each other and the other day we magically married, she is now Mrs Hermione Potter and will always be."

With a laugh Minerva held out her hand to Filius. "Okay you, pay up. I told you they would finally figure it out." With a grumble the diminutive charms professor pulled out a small pouch and handed it to his friend. She took it with a smile and looked at her two favourite students.

"Congratulations you two, I knew you would find each other. When can we expect you at Hogwarts?"

"Don't worry Ma'am, we will make a suitably impressive entrance in the next day or so, you would be best if you prepared the rest of the teachers. We will arrive during breakfast."

As the meeting broke up various people came to congratulate the young couple and soon Dobby and Winky were taking people back to where they needed to be.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Elsewhere another council of war was taking place, however this one was less cordial. Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort as he liked to be known was pissed off, and if he was totally honest with himself, a little afraid. He had felt the death of four of his Horcrux's keenly and was very concerned for the safety of the remaining three. He had tried to create more, but so little of his soul was left that to split it further would make it untenable and he would collapse into the abyss of soul death. He had travelled to Malfoy manor and made it his, the death of Lucuis concerned him. If reports were to be believed Potter and the Mudblood totally out classed his Deatheaters and even Bella was frightened. She had spouted some absurd story about the Mudblood coming back from the dead, talking of which, he'd better release her from the curse he was currently holding her under. The sounds of her screams were like manna from the gods for him, but she was starting to get close to total oblivion and he still needed her for the time been. With a wave of his wand he cancelled the torture curse and the screams faded, leaving a quiet whimpering. The rest of the Deatheaters daren't come to her aid and she slowly crawled away from her master.

"You failed me Bella, and you know I don't like failure. You fled from the boy leaving Lucuis to die."

Bellatrix wasn't capable of speaking at the moment as her nerve endings were still on fire from the effects of the Cruciatus curse.

"Nothing to say Bella? No witty comeback? Oh well...CRUCIO!" and he held her under the curse for another thirty seconds before finally releasing her. "Don't fail me again Bella. I have a mission for you but I will kindly give you a few minutes to recover."

Bella nodded in consent and continued to crawl to the side of the room, where under the watchful gaze of her master, one of the Deatheaters gave her a glass of water.

Voldemort looked around the group before asking "Where are Narcissa and the Malfoy boy?"

"My Lord, they are seeing to Lucius's body in the grounds of the estate. You allowed them to do this." Pettigrew answered.

"Ah yes, as soon as they are back I have work for young Draco. It's time he earned his mark. Now Bella, are you up to a chat?"

"Y-y-yes my Lord, how may I serve you?" she stuttered.

"I am concerned about an item I own. The cup I placed in your care, where is it?"

"My Lord, I place the item in my vault at Gringotts and also places curses on the vault so if anyone other than myself would enter they would activate."

"Good, Bella, good. However I feel that the item needs to be better protected. I need you to take it from the bank and take it abroad. I feel that it would be better protected in the presence of the Lord and Lady. Do this for me Bella and do not fail me, for if you do it will be the end for you."

"Yes my Lord, the honour is mine. I will not fail you my Lord."

"See that you don't. Now take Yaxley and McNair with you and go."

Bella and the two other Deatheaters left passing on the way the half eaten body of Nott, there master had not taken kindly to Nott's failure in the dungeon, and Peter had only just escaped with his life.

Voldemort looked around the room once more; he needed Draco to go back to Hogwarts to secure the other artefact. The third was secure; no one on Earth could ever find it...could they?"

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

In a corner of the grounds of the manor, two figures stood overlooking a mound of Earth. Lucius's last resting place was not a grand one. A rude hole in the ground under a old oak tree was not what the wizard would have wanted, but the family graveyard in France was too difficult to get to in these times, so the hole would have to do.

'Rather fitting' thought Narcissa as she looked at the grave of the man she despised. As she stood there an overwhelming feeling of freedom came over her. 'I'm free, I'm free...' It was like a mantra running through her head. She had no intention of returning to that monster in her home, and had already packed a few essentials in a small bag around her shoulder. She wanted to take Draco with her but as she thought this she was distracted by a movement next to her. Draco had moved to the crude grave marker and started to speak.

"Father, I will avenge you, Potter and his Mudblood whore will pay with their lives, and the lives of all those they hold dear. I will not rest until they are in a hole in the ground..."

He continued to rant and Narcissa realised with a sense of sadness that Draco was lost to her, the madness had taken him and he wanted revenge. She knew this to be folly, even the Dark Lord was startled by the Mudbloods apparent ability to return from the dead, and Potter was far more powerful that her son was, but she knew he wasn't going to listen to her. She slowly started to move away from him, the spot where they stood had been picked deliberately on her part. It was near the edge of the wards and it only took her a few minutes to reach the edge. As soon as she passed them she apparated away, leaving the last of Malfoy's spitting his impossible revenge.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine – Battle Preparations**

The following day Harry knocked on the door that Mr Ollivander was staying in. Madam Pomfrey had declared that there was no more she could do for the old man, it was up to the elderly wand-maker if he was to survive. Harry had hoped that he would be able to talk to the old man and get him to see he had a reason to live.

"Come in" came the weak reply from the room. Harry opened the door and quietly walked in the room. The curtains were only half open, casting the room into shadows. Mr Ollivander was lying in the bed with the covers pulled up to his chin, despite the warmth of the room. He looked much older than Harry remembered; his silver eyes cloudy with age.

"Ah, Mr Potter, 11 inch Holly with a Phoenix feather, lovely wand even if I do say so myself. How may I aid you?"

"Mr Ollivander, how are you sir?" Harry asked, shocked by the man's appearance.

"Not long for this world Mr Potter, the Fey are calling me back to the home lands. It is time for my replacement to come forth, but I am guessing that my health is not the reason for your visit Mr Potter."

Harry sadly smiled at the man and slowly pulled out the two parts of his wand and handed them to the dying man.

"Ahhh, I see. How did this happen if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was thrown on the wand by a demon, it snapped when I landed sir." Harry replied.

"I see, well it was a noble wand, it will be worth saving."

"You can save it? How, it's snapped in two?"

"Well young Mr Potter, that's why I am a master wand-maker and you aren't." The old man replied with a ghost of a smile on his face. "Now help me out of this bed please."

Harry helped Mr Ollivander out of the bed, startled by how thin the man was. Once on his feet he wavered a little and slowly walked over to the desk. He reached into his shirt and pulled out an odd looking pouch on a leather cord. He untied the cord and muttered something at the pouch in a language that Harry had never heard before. The pouch enlarged and reformed into a large leather bag. With a smile the wand-maker opened the bag and took out an strange looking metal tube that he placed the two parts of the wand into. He placed this on the table and continued to rummage in his bag. Eventually he took out a small glass vial that contained an odd silvery liquid which he carefully poured into the metal tube containing the two parts of the wand. He then sealed the end and once more laid it on the desk.

With a sad smile he turned back to Harry and with a slight nod "Harry my boy, this is the end for me, but don't worry. I am going back to my homelands and my replacement is on his way. My last act is to repair your wand, you will need to break open the tube to get your wand. Live well and have many children with that witch of yours. In the centuries that follow, remember me."

Harry was confused as well as surprised. "H-how did you know about me and Hermione sir?"

"Like Miss Lovegood, I can see your aura, and I know its significance. You have been blessed by the Gods of Time Harry, and that's a rare thing. Farewell Harry." And with that he placed his hands on the metal tube and concentrated. The wandmaker and the tube began to glow bright, the light getting brighter and brighter until Harry had to turn away. With a silent 'pop' the light suddenly flared and then died, and when Harry looked back, the wand-maker was gone. The metal tune was left on the table still glowing slightly. Harry looked around in wonder and sadness as he realised that Ollivander was gone forever. Tears pricked his eyes and he took hold of the tube, he gently opened the end of the tube and with a gasp withdrew his wand, whole once more. He held it for a few seconds before quietly muttering to himself "Lumos!" Unlike before when a gentle light would emerge from the wand tip, this time a light bright enough to light a large room burst forth. With a startled "Nox!" Harry cancelled the spell and looked at his wand in wonder. It seemed that Mr Ollivander had improved the power of his wand as well as repair it for him. Harry looked around the room for a long moment, before banishing most of the contents and cleaning the sheets on the bed. He looked at the small pouch that Mr Ollivander had used and decided that once the new wandmaker arrived he would make sure that he got the contents of the pouch. Silently he left the room and went in search of his wife.

He found her and the others sat in the kitchen having breakfast. As soon as Harry walked in the conversation died and they all were sat looking at him. After what seemed a long while, Hermione stood up and walked over to him.

"Harry are you okay?" she asked in a gentle voice.

Harry held up his repaired wand and looked deep into her chocolate eyes. "Mr Ollivander repaired my wand, but he has now gone..." he tailed off.

"Gone? Gone where Harry? He's in no fit state to leave the cottage." Molly asked from the table.

"He's gone...home, back to the Fey. He will not be returning, but apparently his replacement is on his way...It was so beautiful..." Harry paused. "I think I need a drink, any coffee?"

Hermione led him to the table and made him some coffee. As he waited, he was idly twirling his repaired wand, completely unaware of the sparks coming out of the wand. However everyone else was aware of this fact and looking at the wand with some fear. For sparks to appear when the wizard was not even concentrating on the wand was a sure sign of a very powerful magic user. When Hermione bent down to give him his coffee, she put her hands on her husband's hand and stopped his twirling.

"Harry, put the wand away love, your scaring everyone." She muttered.

"What? Oh sorry, just a bit distracted everyone." With a shake of his head he threw off his odd mood and proceeded to wandlessly and silently conjure up some breakfast and proceeded to eat, unaware that his actions had not managed to quell any of the others unease. The casualness with which he created his breakfast really startled everyone except Hermione and to peoples surprise Luna's who smiled in delight.

As Harry appeared not to notice soon everyone relaxed and breakfast continued as before.

"Harry we have to go to Gringotts today. Whilst you were upstairs we received a message saying that they are expecting the two of us at eleven. They sent a Gringotts port-key so we don't have to go through the alley again. We are to report to Ragnok as soon as we get there." Hermione told him.

"Ok, after that we need to go to get some armour for Luna, and then we need to get some training in." Harry mused. "Luna, you have spoken to your father about coming with us haven't you?"

"Yes, Harry. The Nargles spoke to him first anyway so he knew I needed to do this." She replied in a dreamy voice, causing Hermione to wince.

The conversation returned to more mundane matters as the meal continued.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

As soon as the bank opened, Bellatrix Lestrange accompanied by Yaxley and McNair burst through the doors and walked up to the nearest goblin.

"You! I need to retrieve something from my vault. Take me there at once!" she commanded in a bored tone. The Goblin nodded and asked her to wait whist he arranged the cart. As soon as he was out of sight he contacted Ragnok.

"Sir, the Lestrange woman is here and is asking to retrieve something from her vault. What do you wish me to do sir?"

"Damm, we haven't met with the Potter boy yet. As of this moment, we are still neutral in this conflict. Let her take the item, but as soon as she leaves her vault cast a Goblin tracking charm on the item and the witch. We will pass this information on to young Mr Potter when we see him, the Goblin nation is about to declare war and we will play our part. Go back to the witch and allow her and only her access to the vault Silverfang."

"Yes Sir!" Silverfang returned to the main area and quickly spoke to Bellatrix. She wasn't happy about the fact that Yaxley and McNair would not be allowed to her vault, but soon they were both in the cart travelling to the vault. As soon as they arrived, Bellatrix opened the vault and went in alone, forbidding Silverfang to go with her. She soon emerged and was in the process of putting a large golden cup into a bag when Silverfang cast a goblin tracking charm on both the cup and the witch. Unlike a wizard tracking charm that could be detected if the witch or wizard was skilled enough, this was a special charm developed for Gringotts, as was normally used to track items that the Goblins believed to be stolen. It could not be removed except by the original spell caster, nor could it be detected.

"Come on then Goblin, I don't have time to dally, get me back to the main bank and then I can leave this place." Bellatrix ordered. Silverfang smiled to himself, he would gladly aid Mr Potter in defeating this evil witch. He was so glad that the young man had rescued his father, and both he and the Goblin nation owed Mr Potter a life debt.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

'Ron' was hungry and bored. He was wandering the country looking for food and trying to think of a way of killing Potter and Granger. The creature was confused by the pair's apparent survival as his hand and it intrigued him. The creature wanted to kill all wizards and witches and in its madness – for the creature was totally mad – it was thinking of ways to achieve this and to increase its numbers. As it walked towards the village in front of it, he felt his stomach growl. He had only eaten last night, but the two muggles he had killed didn't sate his hunger for very long. It seemed that Muggles just didn't satisfy him the same was that magical people did. That said he did enjoy the terror from the young couple as he raped the women, killing her at his moment of climax and bathing in her blood and terror as he slashed her throat. The fear from the man as he was forced to watch also was delicious, and it wasn't long before the man ended up in pieces as he killed him as well. Maybe there was something to be said for these Muggles, they died with so much fear and there were so many of them. They would make wonderful cattle! Breed for feeding stock in his new world, his brave new world that consisted of his kind and kin at the top, and the Muggle breeding stock for food. Now if only he could stop that fucking Potter and his whore then this may be possible...oh and that sodding Voldemort as well.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Lord Voldemort looked down on the screaming and writhing boy in front of him with a dispassionate glare. He idly wondered how long he could keep young Draco under the course before he soiled himself. As soon as he thought of this an unpleasant smell assaulted his senses and the answer to the question became a mute point. With a casual flick of his wand he cancelled the curse and looked down on the shit covered boy.

"Draco! Draco! As head of the house of Malfoy, you should keep a shorter leash on the women in your household. Letting your mother escape our hands was not a wise thing to do. I am displeased with you, but I will not kill you today. I have a task for you and you may escape your fate if you are successful."

Draco slowly raised his head and nodded at the Dark Lord seated before him, in his own house. The day had not been good for the young Malfoy, starting with the realisation that his mother had fled. The Dark Lord was not happy about that and this was the third time that he had been subjected to the Cruciatus curse this morning. He had already lost his left arm at the elbow, blasted off in another moment of anger from the master, and now he had lost the contents of his bowels and bladder.

"M-m-my Lord, what do you require of me?" he asked in a broken voice.

"Draco, all I ask is complete servitude and your soul. Also I need you to go back to Hogwarts. Something of importance to me is there and I need you to find it for me and bring it to me. Failure will not be tolerated. Your mother's life is already forfeit; let's try to keep the Malfoy name alive shall we?"

"Yes my Lord"

And Voldemort proceeded to the tell Draco what he needed him to do. Hopefully his Godfather would be able to help him as he ruled the school now with an iron fist.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

At ten to eleven Harry and Hermione port-keyed into Gringotts bank as requested. They arrived in a darkened area with just the one door leaving the room. As they approached the door, a voice could be heard asking them to place their hands on the two indicated panels for identification. The both placed their hands on the panels and both winced as they felt a sharp pain, removing their hands they both had a slight cut in the middle of their palms and blood was trickling down their hands, but both cuts almost immediately healed due to their immortality. The panels flared once and then the door slid open revealing a pair of heavily armed Goblin guards.

"Follow us please!" they ordered in polite but firm voices that brokered no room for disobedience. They were lead through a maze of corridors that gave the impression to Hermione that they were designed to confuse the visitor so they would not be able to find their way a second time. They hadn't realised that Hermione was brilliant and had an eidetic memory, so she was memorising the way just in case.

Soon they arrived at a pair of large ornate golden doors that had two extra guards stationed outside of. As they drew closer the guards opened the doors and ushered the pair of humans into the room beyond.

The room beyond was very ornate, there were fantastic paintings on the walls and in the centre of the marble floor stood a large polished table. There were two chairs on one side and a large delegation of Goblins on the other. Ragnok was sat in the centre with Griphook sat to his left, and a much younger Goblin sat next to Griphook. The rest of the Goblins all looked very old and impressive. Harry and Hermione walked across the room and stood in front of Ragnok. Harry bowed to the goblin, whilst Hermione curtsied. Harry took a deep breath.

"Sir, we present ourselves as requested. May the gold of your enemies soon become yours and the dust of their bones scatter in the winds."

The Goblins were astonished that a human would treat them with so much respect. Ragnok smiled to himself. He had been right about this couple; they did respect all sentient life. It would bring great honour to the Goblin nation to side with this pair. As he looked he used a little of his Goblin magic to really see the two humans genuflecting before him and he gasped out loud. Never had he seen such a strong aura, these two were beyond soul bonded and as far as he could tell, immortal. The ancient prophesies were right, the time of the immortal ones had come and it was on his 'watch'. He bared his teeth as the pair and slowly stood. He walked around the table and stood in front of them, and to the other goblins amazement, he bowed to them, and sunk to one knee.

"My Lord, Lady. The Goblin nation is honoured to meet with you, know that I have pronounced you both Goblin Friends and warriors. You are as brother and sister to me and we pledge our resources to your fight. Please sit and take drink with us." He motioned to the seats and only stood once they had sat. Never before in all of goblin history had the leader, the king shown such respect. The rest of the seated goblins did not know what to make of the events unfolding in front of them. As far as they were concerned they were here to speak to a couple of humans to thank them for saving one of their own.

The Young pair were presented with Goblin wine, a rare delicacy and hardly ever offered to humans. Both Harry and Hermione relished the taste of the slightly sweet drink, but both knew, due to their connection, the honour that was been bestowed on them.

Ragnok stood and walked back to take his place at the desk and then he looked long and hard at the two teens.

"Lord Potter, Lady Potter, we need to talk." He started. Harry held up his hand to signal he wished to speak. Ragnok nodded to him

"Er Sir, I think I can speak for both myself and Hermione, and we are a little confused. Why all the honour – not that we mind you understand but we are just not sure what we have done to deserve it, and why are you calling us Lord and Lady Potter?"

Ragnok laughed briefly at the young man's confusion before answering him. "Lord Potter, you saved the life of young Griphook, never before has any human saved the life of a goblin before, and this is one of the reasons why we honour you so. You and your wife – yes we are aware of your marriage, as well as your gift- you and your wife are unusual in that you treat all sentient life with respect unless they abuse that respect. You even give your enemies a chance, but only one chance. You risked a lot to save your friends and when you saw Griphook you rescued him without a second thought. For that I thank you from the Goblin nation. Also on a personal note, Griphook means a lot to me, after all what father doesn't love his son. The Deatheaters had kidnapped Griphook in order to try to force us to support Voldemort. This would never have happened and they would have eventually been forced to kill my son. For avoiding this alone I thank you."

"Your Son?" Harry gasped.

"Yes, Griphook is my eldest son and my heir, so that is one of the reason we honour you so. Now Lord Potter, we need to discuss your true inheritance. You see the goblin nation have a prophesy about you two. Not one of your human weak prophesies, but a true one. It states that in the time of need two immortals will appear. They will unite the world against the evil and save all life from eternal death. When I met you just now, I scanned your auras and I now know that you two are those beings. I had asked Griphook and his team to do some research into your heritage when we last met, and he found something remarkable. It appears that both of you are direct descendants of Merlin and the founders. Lady Potter, you are descended from Merlin and the lady Ravenclaw, whilst you Lord Potter are also descended from Merlin as well as Lord Griffindor and the Lady Hufflepuff. That makes you both of the nobility, hence the Lord and Lady Potter, or to give you both your full titles, Lord Harry James Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Emrys-Potter, and the Lady Hermione Jean Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter."

Both teens looked at the goblin king in amazement before the goblin bared his teeth in a smile and continued.

"The contents of all three vaults have been transferred to yours and ...well let's just say, even with your immortality you would struggle to spend it all. I will have a portfolio and statement prepared for you but I think you can guess that your credit it good and the goblin nation stand by your cause. Unfortunately for all of us, we could only pledge our loyalty to you in person and that didn't stop Bellatrix Lestrange removing an item from her vault earlier today. I am aware of the items you seek and I believe that the cup she removed is one such item. I asked young Silverfang here to cast an unbreakable tracking charm on both her and the item, and now because of our pledge to you we will show you how to find both her and the item in question."

Hermione finally struggled to speak, "Thank you sir, that will be very useful. Do you know of the whereabouts of any of the other items?"

"I'm sorry Lady Potter but we are unsure of the location of the items beyond what you have already guessed. We believe that you have destroyed four of them, and can now track the fifth, the remaining two are a mystery but we stand ready to aid you if requested. Do you have any further requests of questions today?"

Harry responded. "Both my wife and I thank you for all you have done, and we would have saved any goblin from the Deatheaters. I am glad that Griphook is well and we would both be honoured if he continued to be the account manager for our finances. I have but one boon to ask of you. Please can you keep both our titles and our immortality a secret for the time been. We do not wish the attention of the titles and the immortality may give us an advantage over Voldemort. Also do you know where we can obtain some good Dragon skin armour? A young friend of ours has pledged to accompany us and we would value some protection for her"

"Off course Lord Potter, we understand and will keep your secrets. I'm sure that my son can issue you with some armour for your friend. Griphook will also give you the portfolio and the statements before you leave."

The entire table of Goblins stood and bowed before leaving; only Griphook and Silverfang were left stood before them

"Thank you Lord and Lady Potter for saving my life. I owe you a life debt and will be in your service until it has been paid. My son was the one to cast the tracking charm and I will leave you with him to explain its workings whilst I go to get the armour for you. Before I go have the information for you here. "He said holding out a large leather bound folder for them, which Hermione took. He left to get the armour and young Silverfang explained how to locate the two tracking charmed objects to them both. Soon Griphook returned with a large bag that contained a set of Dragon-hide armour. He explained that it was self sizing and would stop all but the most powerful of curses.

"We have temporally removed the apperation wards from this room so you may depart without leaving the bank. My father was very annoyed that the guards did not stop the fight outside the bank last time you visited here and the guards were punished. I am glad that Malfoy did not kill you Lady Potter."

"Thank you Griphook. If you are going to be with us for a long while then please call me Hermione and my husband Harry. We are not used to titles and our friends use our first names."

"You twice honour me Lady...Hermione, Harry. I bid you good day. May your enemies turn to dust whist your gold increases in value." And with a bow he and his son left. The couple starred at the door for a while before taking each other's hands and apparating away from the bank and back to the cottage.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was a slightly startled Harry and Hermione that arrived back at the cottage, Hermione limply holding the folder.

"Wow!" Harry whispered.

"Yeah, I know."

"How much?" Harry asked her in an awed voice

Hermione opened the folder and looked through until she came to the current total. She just starred at it for a while before staggering to the sofa. She handed the parchment to Harry and pointed to the very large number on the bottom of the sheet.

"NO! That's got to be a mistake...that's in the ..." he paused as he counted the number of digits. "That's in the multiple billions. That's gotta be wrong."

"I don't think so Harry, look it has our name on the top. But Harry it means nothing, well not to me anyway. As long as I'm with you that's fine by me."

"Me to love. Lets ignore the money for the moment. It's not as if we can go shopping can we? We need to prepare for going to Hogwarts and then we need to find that cup that Bellatrix moved, and then the last one, and then Voldemort and then Ron... Merlin! It's never ending."

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day training with Luna. She loved her new armour and immediately stripped to put it on, causing Harry to blush furiously and turn his back to the little blond. Soon they began to train and once Luna got past her dreamy stage, she turned out to be a rather fierce warrior, albeit a little lacking in power and skill. It was apparent that she would be more than a match for all but the most powerful of Deatheaters. Luna on the other hand was amazed by the sheer power of her two friends. Never before had she seen such raw power and it frightened her a little. Once more she utilised her ability to see auras and was pleased to see no evidence of anything dark in the pair, in fact they seemed even more 'light' than they had before, and the joining of their souls was even more amazing than she had ever seen. As she gazed at them in awe she was surprised when she looked down at herself and saw a thin ribbon of light connecting her to the couple. Unsure of its importance she filed the information away to review at a later date.

The next day was also spent training and both Harry and Hermione were pleased, both with their own progress as well as Luna's. The following day was the day they would return to Hogwarts.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Headmaster Serverus Snape sat in his dark office and waited. The office looked a lot different to when the last occupant used it. Gone were all the odd instruments of the desk, as well as the odd clutter. Most of the portraits' were bound and gagged apart from the more obvious Slytherin ones. The room was dimly lit and Serverus sat at the desk with his eyes glued to the one portrait that hadn't yet spoke. The painted brightly clothed Albus Dumbledore slowly awoke and looked around the office in surprise.

"Serverus, my friend. What happened here?"

"Old man, so you finally speak. Welcome to the true world. I need to thank you for allowing me to finally kill you. You old fool..." he spat, "You really did believe that I served you didn't you?" He brandished his arm at the portrait, showing the ugly Dark Mark on it. "You don't get one of these just by been a bit mean you know. You have to kill, rape and maim innocents to get it. You really thought I had left my Master? Well welcome home Albus...Welcome to hell!" and he cast an unknown spell on the portrait that made the painted Albus Dumbledore feel the pain of the Cruciatus curse. The room echoed to the screams of the newly awoken ex-Headmaster and the mad laughter of the current incumbent.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten - Hogwarts**

"Everyone stand for your Headmaster!" came the shout from Amycus Carrow, the hated professor of the Dark Arts. Silently every student in the hall stood and most bowed there head as the visage of Headmaster Snape swept into the Great Hall. The only table that held their heads high were the students of Slytherin. Hogwarts had changed, and not for the better. There were now five tables for students; as well as the four house tables there was a smaller table at the front of the hall for the punishment squad. This was a small number of elder Slytherins that were the appointed students that were allowed to carry out any punishment they saw fit. This would range from mild curses to the torture curse, as well as rape and regular beatings. These students were the most feared as they seemed to delight in hurting the others. They consisted of Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Gregory Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode and Vincent Crabbe. They were often helped by the caretaker Filch who took great delight in beating students. The state of the students on the three other tables was shocking. Quite a few had broken limbs and bruises that only the most basic healing spells had been allowed. Many of the girls were traumatised by the constant sexual harassment that was dished out by the punishment squad. The few that had been raped were often obliterated afterwards but they still seemed to have some residual memory. Many had tears in their eyes and a few shook with the after effects of too many torture curses.

It was into this room that the Headmaster walked into with an evil smile on his face. He loved his new job, and he relished in the power that he had over these youngsters. Today however he was not alone as he swept towards his golden throne. Following behind him was a dark robed young man. His hood was raised so no one could see his face. As Snape sat he looked around at both the students and the remaining teachers. The students all remained stood whilst the teachers looked down at their tables. Professor McGonagall was been held from the ceiling, bound and gagged as she dangled from the magical ropes holding her. Snape had found out somehow about her meeting with the order and was going to make an example of her today. She had already been beaten and tortured, the sick man had taken great delight in personally seeing to her rather than letting his pet killers loose. She knew that he was going to kill her today in front of the school. Her own personal fate was of little importance to her, she was more concerned about the effect on the few remaining voices of reason within the school.

Snape continued to look around and finally with a small nod towards the male Carrow, instructions were given for the student body to sit. With a generous wave of his hand, bread and gruel appeared on three on the tables, but the remaining house table and the punishment table were overflowing with the most sumptuous of food. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw all ate in silence, whereas the other two tables were chatting and laughing loudly. The only two exceptions on the Slytherin table were Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davies who were also bound and gagged as they had tried to stand up for a young first year Hufflepuff who was been beaten by Goyle. They were to be made an example off today along with the ex deputy headmistress, and they were not expected to survive the experience. Daphne was just pleased that she had managed to get her sister out of the school a few days ago, and that she would die with her honour and her virginity intact.

Snape had conjured a small wooden stool for his guest who was sat looking around the hall; his remaining arm holding his wand with a nervous shake.

"Draco, speak." Snape ordered.

"Sir, our Master asked me to retrieve an item of importance from the school. He is concerned about reports he has received about a worrying increase in Potter's power and the item in question is important to our Master's survival."

Snape was aware of the Horcrux's and assumed that the item Draco was referring to was once such item. He had also heard about the Potter boy increase in power but had dismissed it as rumour. Potter was a weak fool and the Dark Lord would kill him in seconds, or so Snape believed, he had however heard one interesting fact that he had to mention.

"Well it seems that he was more than a match for your father, or what was left of him after his Mudblood bitch finished with him." He said with an evil laugh.

Draco seethed but was too scared to rebuke his godfather. It seemed that the loss of Dumbledore had had a massive effect on Snape. No longer was his evil streak restrained but was evident for all to see.

"No sir, my Father was a fool and deserved all he got." Draco replied between gritted teeth.

Snape looked up at the younger man briefly and glared at the impertinence in the man before smirking.

"Eat, Draco, well as well as a one armed man can eat. We can talk after I dismiss this rabble."

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry, Hermione and Luna apparated to the small village of Hogsmeade, and as soon as they appeared alarms sounded, alerting the small contingent of Death-Eaters stationed there of the arrival. They burst out of the house they were using to find the three teens stood casually in the centre of the main street looking totally unconcerned.

"Morning Scumbags, how may we help you?"

The Death Eaters were confused. They were used to people cowering in terror at their very presence. These 'children' seemed totally unafraid by them and this threw them into confusion.

"Get them!" came the predictable response and the air was thick with spells flying towards the three teens. With a casual wave of his hand, Harry threw up a golden shield that caused the spells to bounce of, one of them hitting one of the Deatheaters and sliced him in two. His eyes blinked rapidly and his mouth opened in a silent scream as his brain processed the information coming to it. His brain finally realised that he was dead and shut down and the two body parts slid away from another with a sickening slurp.

"Urgh!"Luna said, paling at the sight and then she turned around and vomited he breakfast, tea and every other meal she had eaten recently. Despite the fact they were still surrounded by angry, confused and a little afraid Deatheaters, Hermione bent down within their shield bubble to comfort the younger girl whist Harry almost silently and casually called upon the fire elements and the remaining Deatheaters instantly burst into an intense flame and within seconds they were nothing more than ash and dust. With a low 'pop' the shield bubble dispersed leaving the street silent once more.

"You alright Luna?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I will be fine, that was disgusting, but I suppose he brought it upon himself."

"Never forget that, we didn't start this, they did. Are you okay to move, I want to walk up to the castle and surprise the Bat at breakfast."

"Yes, I will be fine. Come on I feel that we have to get there soon, otherwise something terrible will happen."

Harry looked at Hermione at this announcement and she raised an eyebrow as she looked back at him. He knew she wasn't totally convinced by Luna's sight, but they believed enough to realise that hurrying wouldn't hurt.

"Come on then, let's get moving." They all moved towards the lane that ran towards the school in silence, all thoughts turned inwards, contemplating the task ahead of them.

As they got closer to the school grounds Harry suddenly looked up and motioned for them to stop.

"What's the matter Harry?" Luna asked.

"Something's wrong, Hermione check the path ahead for the wards will you?" they were on the edge of the grounds of the school, where the schools wards started. Hermione cast out her consciousness at the area in front of her and suddenly gasped and went very pale.

"Oh sweet Merlin, that's horrible!" she stated.

"What are you two on about?" Luna demanded.

"Snape has corrupted the schools wards. Luna, extend your aura sight and you may see what we mean."

Luna activated her aura sight and, like Hermione gasped in shock. The normal wards that prevented any one from apparating in and out, as well as been able to be activated to keep the school safe were now a black and dark red colour. They wavered in front of them in a sick sort of roll.

"What the hell has he done?" she asked

Harry walked slowly to the wards boundary and cautiously raised his arm to just before the wards. He screwed his face in concentration before dropping his hand and walking back to the others.

"The wards are set to kill anyone other than Deatheaters. They will not allow children in or out, nor any others. If we carry on, Hermione and I will survive although it will hurt us...a lot, but Luna will die instantly."

"What can we do?" Luna asked, shocked at his words.

"Well we will have to do this the hard way." Harry replied with a deep breath. "I want you both to stand back to back with me, wands drawn and holding hands with the free one."

This they both did, Hermione with a smile as she took Harry's hand.

"Hermione, I will need your power as well to do this."

Harry shut his eyes and concentrated on what he instinctively knew he needed to do. Slowly a myriad of rainbow colours of light surrounded the three, forming a multicoloured bubble around them. A magical wind had blown up as both Harry and Hermione called upon their new powers and with a gentle 'pop' they vanished.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Breakfast was progressing was normal in the Great Hall, joviality and conversation at the Slytherin and silence punctured by the occasional sound of crying from the other three.

"Silence!" Snape shouted, as he stood and walked to the front of the raised area at the front of the hall. He gazed up at the slowly spinning form of Minerva McGonagall with an evil smirk.

"Lower the traitor and bring the two ex-Slytherin whores to me!" he instructed the Carrows. With an evil laugh Alecto roughly pulled the two girls up by the hair and pushed them towards Snape. Amycus had lowered the dangling teacher and also roughly pushed her to the stage. All three were now on their knees in front of Snape.

"These women have been found guilty of betraying me and as such there lives are forfeit. Greengrass and Davis tried to stop the good work of my punishment squad and your ex teacher has been found to be in league with the enemies of the Dark Lord. This behaviour cannot be tolerated, but before I give the final punishment we have another problem student in our midst's."

At these words everyone on the three tables shuddered. This was a common occurrence these days. If anyone tried to stand up to the punishment squad or indeed anyone in the Slytherin house they were reported and Snape would pull them up in front of the whole school to punish them. This was normally the Cruciatus curse, but occasionally it had involved taking the individual away and allowing the squad to have some fun. If it was a girl this was normally rape, and for a boy torture and disfigurement, although rape had also been used.

"Sarah Proctor! Stand!" Snape commanded.

"Oh no, please no. I didn't do anything, please no!" came the desperate pleas from a small second year old girl sat at the Ravenclaw table.

"STAND UP GIRL!" Amycus yelled at her.

Sobbing and shaking the small blonde girl stood, head down and terrified.

"Proctor, I heard from my squad that you were found with some sweets in your possession. You know that other the elite, no one are allowed sweets. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"My mother sent me them!"

"Speak up girl!" Snape shouted.

"My mother sent me them." Sarah repeated.

"Your mothers sent them to you? And you think that is acceptable do you? Come here girl, I will administer the punishment."

Sarah had fallen to her knees by this point in abject terror. Amycus was trying to pull her to her feet, and hitting her around the head as he did. He dragged her to stand in front the leering Headmaster who slowly drew his wand. He was just about the cast the curse when he was aware of people murmuring and moving away from the centre of the room. Looking up he saw a magical wind break out and suddenly there was a rainbow of colours and an odd chiming sound. Snape looked on in amazement as a sphere of light appeared and suddenly Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were stood there along with that odd Ravenclaw, Lovegood.

"Hello Sniverlus, surprise!" Harry shouted, wand pointing at Snape. Hermione had moved and was covering the Slytherins and Luna was pointing her wand in the general direction of the Carrows.

"POTTER! How did you get in here? Never mind that, you have made a foolish mistake in coming here. REDUCTO!"

The spell shot towards Harry who made no move to stop it. He just stood there as the spell raced at him, with a small smile on his face. Snape watched the boy and sneered. 'He's frozen in terror', he thought. It was all too easy, so much for the new improved 'Chosen One'. Then the boy did something that quite frankly scared Snape to his very core. Harry, without breaking eye contact, raised his hand and caught the spell. He just held onto the devastating spell and held it in his hand. The light played around his arm and hand before he made a fist and the spell popped out of existence.

"You are going to have to try harder than that...Sir!" he said in a snide voice.

The whole hall had stopped and was watching in fascination. Harry never took his eyes of Snape and was aware how much the man was capable of when pushed. Snape meanwhile was at a loss on how to proceed, he knew that things had now changed and that his power at the school was coming to an end. Finally he did something that he had never even considered. He quickly raised his wand to the ceiling and brought down a large section that crashed to the floor with an almighty bang. In the confusion he shouted "Carrow's, take them!" and then he lifted up his robes and fled like a small child. He had to get up to the astronomy tower in order to get away.

Harry was surprised by the turn of events. Off all the things he had expected Snape to do, turning and running wasn't one of them. The two Carrows had turned and advanced on the trio.

"Mione, can you handle these two? I'm going after Snape"

"Go love, be careful!" she replied as she turned to the two siblings.

Hermione and Luna had suddenly realised that behind the two Carrows, were the punishment squad and a number of the elder Slytherin students, all had wands pointing at the pair and all were smiling an evil smile.

"So, the great Potter, leaves two girls to fight for him, some hero!" Amycus called out. He grinned as he cast a couple of curses at the two harmless looking girls. This would be fun, he thought to himself.

Hermione barely blinked as she raised a shield that cased the two curses to bounce back to the wizard. However she had also added a multiplier to the shield and the spell that hit Amycus were ten times more powerful than the ones he had cast. The Deatheater's head dissolved into a fine mist of red spray. The body stood for a few seconds, wand hand still raised, before collapsing on the floor.

"Amycus! NO!...You BITCH!" Alecto shouted at Hermione as she ran towards her, wand raised. However it was Luna who stopped her with a well placed tripping jinx and a Stunner. The stunned witch slid along the floor, coming to rest next to the body of her brother, her tangled hair now becoming matted in the increasing pool of blood from her bothers corpse. The punishment squad bristled with anger as they prepared to attack. However they became aware of movement around them as every remaining student and teacher surrounded them, wands raised and a look of revenge playing across the faces of many. No one was sure later on who cast the first spell at the squad but within a very short space of time, they squad was totally and utterly defeated. Most had boils or tentacles growing out of them, and nearly all had broken limbs. Gregory Goyle had unfortunately tried to fight back and his decapitated corpse was now lying next to the Carrows, his blood mingling with the blood of Amycus. No one knew who had killed him, although it was suspected that Hermione had cast the killing blow. Daphne, Tracy and Professor McGonagall had been released and Minerva was currently hugging Hermione. Hermione however was trying to get away, all too aware that her husband was still somewhere in the castle looking for the bat. As she looked around, unseen by anyone, Draco left the hall to follow Harry with madness and revenge in his eyes.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry raced through the castle, trying to catch up with the beleaguered Headmaster. As he ran he blurred and suddenly there was a large black panther running the halls of Hogwarts. The world around Harry had become more alive than before and he could smell the trail left by Snape. It was an odd mixture of sweat, potions, fear and blood, and normally would have turned Harry's stomach. However at the moment it was manna from the Gods because it meant that he could follow the evil man and confront him. As he ran he became aware that they were heading towards the tallest tower within the school. Now that he knew where Snape was heading he ran faster, his claws clicking on the stone floors and stairs. Bursting out onto the roof terrace he saw Snape trying to mount a broom in order to fly away and out of the wards. The Deatheater turned at the sound of the door flying open and gaped as he looked at one of the largest Panthers he had ever seen. The green eyes, practically glowed with power, and as the cat walked across the roof it blurred and turned back into Harry.

"Snape, our conversation was interrupted. You going somewhere?" he said conversationally as he waved his hand at the Headmaster. The broom that Snape was trying to mount suddenly snapped in two and burst into flames causing Snape to yelp and drop it. Fear was now playing across his face as he realised that Harry was as powerful as the rumours, and possible more so. Harry meanwhile was advancing towards Snape with a wry grin on his face. He'd been looking forward to this for years and he was going to savour the moment.

"Severus Snape, you are without doubt one of the most evil men I have ever met. At least Tom is honest about his feelings and desires. You however hid behind the facade of a redeemed man. You fooled the best Headmaster this school has had and you killed him. You have run this school like a torture camp but today is the day you pay."

Snape had been backing away from Harry all the while fumbling for his wand. As soon as he got the wand ready he pointed it at him, but before he could utter a spell, Harry silently and wandlessly disarmed him, his wand flying towards Harry who caught it without even looking. Snape looked around in terror trying to find something that could act as a weapon.

"Goodbye Snape!" Harry said as he raised his hand.

"STUPEFY – REDUCTO!" came a shout.

However it wasn't Harry who cast these spells. Unseen by both men, Draco had crept up the stairs behind Harry and had watched the altercation. He felt that this was his moment as he had seen that Harry was very close to the edge of the tower. The two spells hit Harry in the back, and he had not erected a shield as he was so absorbed by Snape. The first spell knocked him out and the second flung his body away from the tower edge in an arc. As soon as the power of the spell dimmed, his inert body fell like a stone. After what seemed like a long moment his body hit the ground with tremendous speed and creating a large crater. Every bone snapped and his skull cracked killing him instantly, his blood pooling around him like a shroud.

Snape looked at Malfoy with surprise and then leant over the edge to see the body far below him. His arrogant demeanour soon returned as he spat over the edge.

"So much for 'The Boy Who Loved', come Draco, let's take back the school."

"Sir, that won't be easy. The Carrows are dead and your squad is finished. The Light has the school and we need to get out of here fast."

Snape regarded the younger man and slowly nodded. Without the Carrows or his punishment squad, the remaining teachers and students would be more than enough to beat him.

"Very well, how do you propose we leave?" he asked.

Malfoy pulled out of a bag a small broom that he enlarged. With a smile he mounted it and motioned for Snape to climb up behind him.

As they flew away from the castle they could see small figures approaching the crater that contained the bloody remains of The Chosen One. Voldemort would be pleased that Potter was dead, even if he wasn't the one to remove him from the world.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

As the students tried to figure out what was happening there was an almighty crash from outside. Hermione suddenly screamed in pain and fell to her knees. Luna looked alarmed and activated her aura sight. She could see Hermione's amazing aura waver as she felt the death of her bond mate, before it stabilised.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered. "Come on Luna, this is going to be messy, so much for secrecy."

Hermione and Luna ran out of the hall, closely followed by most of the school. As they got to the main courtyard outside they were presented by a large crater. Inside was the broken body of Harry. His arms and legs were twisted into odd angles, his head cracked open, blood was everywhere. Luna gasped and vomited as she turned away from the sight. Hermione just stood and looked. She knew that this one would take longer that the others, so complete was the damage. She became aware of the presence of Professor McGonagall as she moved to stand next to her.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry. He was a good man and he loved you a great deal." She sobbed, the tears streaming down her face.

"Hush, Minerva. It will be fine, this is not the ideal place, but I'm guessing that getting rid of all these people will not work. Come help me move him to make it easier for him."

"Hermione, what are you talking about? Harry's dead, I'm not sure moving him is a good idea just yet."

Hermione just smiled at her former teacher and walked over to the corpse. She gently moved his legs and arms so they were straight, wincing at the cracking noise they made. She then gently moved his head and placed it on her knee, cradling him like a baby, completely un-phased by all the blood that now covered her as well as Harry.

"Come on Harry, I'm afraid you have an audience this time." She whispered. Professor McGonagall had called for Madam Pomfrey.

"She's lost it Poppy, she cannot handle his death. We are going to have to sedate her and send her to St Mungo's. They will need to assess her mental state, poor child."

Poppy looked at the young woman, with her husband's broken body in her lap and sadly agreed with her friend's assessment. She walked slowly to Hermione, passed Luna who was guarding her friend.

"No Madam Pomfrey, leave her and just watch." Luna ordered.

"Miss Lovegood, you must let me help her. She needs to accept what has happened."

"No, it will be fine, just wait."

As she spoke the rest of the school watched in silence, aware that they were watching the death of their savoir.

Hermione was still cradling Harry's head when she became aware of the imminent revival. The bones in his limbs snapped complete, and the head wound closed. All this was unseen by the crowd, but the next event wasn't. With as gasp and a cry Harry sat bolt upright, causing many in the crowd to scream and a few to faint. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey gasped in astonishment.

"Sweet Merlin, How?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Hermione looked over at her from where she was comforting her husband, and just said "Magic!" but then followed it by, "we'll explain later"

Harry meanwhile was looking around in confusion. "FUCK ME that hurt!" he announced eliciting a small titter of laughter from the crowd. He slowly and cautiously stood and helped by Hermione walked over to the two teachers. After a while he looked at Minerva and spoke.

"Professor McGonagall...Headmistress, I give you back your school, look after it well. I'm sorry but the Ferret and the Bat got away this time, but not for long. Now Luna and I need to speak to the Grey Lady, but I think a drink first may not be a bad idea, your office?"

Ignoring the crowd, who parted in silence, the small group slowly made their way back to the school and up to the new Headmistress room. The crowd of pupils and teachers looked at Harry with something approaching awe, as they contemplated 'The boy who lived...again!'


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven – The Grey Lady**

The small group made their way slowly up to the headmistresses' office. Before they entered the school, Professor McGonagall announced that she had cancelled all lessons for the morning and would make a further announcement at lunchtime regarding the events of the morning. As they continued to walk they became aware that a large group of students were following them up the stairs. At the head of the group stood Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davies.

"Harry, wait please." Daphne called out. Harry stopped and turned to look the beautiful blonde in the face. Her normally ice cool demeanour was broken by bruises and tear tracks that had run down her face. She was walking with an obvious limp and her hair was rather dishevelled. Tracey was not much better and had her arm in a make shift sling.

"Daphne. How may I help you?" Harry asked politely.

"Harry, Tracey and I want to thank you three for saving our lives. If you hadn't have stopped them, we would of been raped and killed today by those bastards." Daphne replied with fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

Harry moved towards her and embraced her and then Tracey. "It was nothing. Those idiots needed stopping. Now go find Madam Pomfrey and get those bruises healed. Get her to look at your arm Tracey, it looks sore."

Both girls nodded at him gratefully, Harry turned and looked at the large group of curious onlookers behind the pair of Slytherins.

"Can everyone else please let us have some peace? I know you all have questions, I will answer some of them later, but for now I really need a sit down and a cuppa." At this a few people giggled and slowly the crowd dispersed. Professor McGonagall once more lead her small group up to the office and soon they all found themselves sat in front of the desk, with a large cup of tea in their hands.

"Now Mr Potter, perhaps an explanation is in order as to how you are still with us. No matter what you say I know what I saw, and you were dead, very dead!" Professor McGonagall stated.

Harry coughed uncomfortably. "What we can tell you is meant to be a secret, although how we are going to keep that now after the whole school saw is beyond me. A few days ago, we were both killed by a demon, and I mean really killed, as in dead. However we were not supposed to die then and some all powerful being had to bring us back. But when we came back we found that both Hermione and I are immortal. We cannot die by normal means." As he spoke, Fawkes flamed in and perched himself on Harry shoulders, looking very smug with himself.

" _Don't worry little one, I have altered the memory of your recent resurrection from most of the school. Only those closest to you remember, Minerva, Poppy, Luna and a few others. You can trust them to be discrete. The rest think you used a cushioning spell but knocked yourself out when you landed."_ Fawkes told him, with a laugh in his voice.

"Sweet Merlin! Immortal?" Minerva whispered. "And Fawkes?"

"Well this bloody bird..."

" _Language!"_

"... decided to bond with us, and a right cheeky one he is too. No wonder Albus kept on eating sweets, it was to distract himself from the bird." Harry answered, much to Fawkes's and Hermione's amusement. "The good news is that he had altered the memories of most of the students, they didn't see me come back from the dead, but they thought I was just knocked out from a failed cushioning charm."

"That's as maybe Mr Potter, but immortal? Are you both sure?"

"Yes Ma'am. Both of us have 'died' a few times now, we both feel the pain due our life bond when once of us die, but so far we have always come back. We do know that if we are decapitated or hit by the killing curse we really will die." Harry answered her.

"Well I'm not sure what to say, immortality may sound appealing but you will not age as all your friends and family grow old and die around you, and your children... I'm not sure I envy you."

"Well that may be true, but we will have each other, for all of time. From what we understand we will have plenty of work to do over the centuries, that's assuming we can get rid of old Voldyshorts and then there's that little matter of 'Ron' to sort out." Hermione replied.

"Yes both are a problem. Now I'm very glad that you have managed to clean out the vermin in the school. We do have a problem with what to do with the punishment squad member, we cannot send them to the ministry as it's been run by the Deatheaters, but we cannot just let them go."

"Covert one of the dungeons. You can hold them there until we have a proper government back. Get the house elves to bind there magic and snap there wands." Harry replied.

"Possible, but it's not very pleasant down there."

"Well get the elves to decorate. These are rapists and potential killers we are talking about." Harry replied, getting a little annoyed.

"He's right Minerva, after seeing some of the injuries they caused I am struggling to feel any sympathy for their comfort." Poppy told her friend.

"Well yes you have a point. Pappy!" she called out. With a sharp 'pop' an ancient house elf appeared.

"Yes Headmistress?" he asked confirming that the school had accepted her as its new master.

"Could you prepare the dungeons to securely hold some junior Deatheaters? Please make the rooms comfortable but secure, we are not monsters after all, and please arrange to feed them and clothe them. Once there can you please bind there magic. I will snap there wands. Oh and you'd better make room for Mr Filch. He seemed to enjoy helping them a little too much."

"Yes Headmistress. Would there be anything else?"

"Yes, can you make sure all the students are in the Great hall for lunch? I need to make an announcement soon. Can you also ask all the staff members to meet me in my office as soon as possible?"

"Yes Headmistress." With a pop the elderly elf vanished.

"Now Harry, before I speak to the staff, what else can I help you with?"

"Headmistress, as we mentioned the other day, we need to speak to the Grey Lady. She may be the only one to help up with our task."

"Yes of course. Miss Lovegood? You know where to find her do you not?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well then I shall leave it up to you three then. Can I ask you to be in the Great Hall at lunch time? It may be helpful to answer any questions and to keep the peace." She asked.

Once they had agreed, Luna led the pair down towards the Ravenclaw Dormitories. Once they had all left, Fawkes hopped onto his old perch and looked at the portrait of the previous Headmaster.

" _Albus, you there?"_ the Phoenix asked _._

"Yes my old friend. Things are going well it seems."

" _Yes, the pair are progressing well, and they have bonded. They have also bonded with the other."_

"Good, all as planned. Now tell me, how annoying have you been to them?"

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The Trio were making their way towards the Ravenclaw common room. As they walked Luna was calling out for the ghost.

"Helena! Are you here?" she called.

As they rounded a corner they came face to face with the sad expression of the Grey Lady.

"Luna darling, who are your friends?" the sad ghost asked.

"Oh there you are. These are my very good friends Harry and Hermione Potter; they need to ask you about your mothers lost Diadem."

The Grey Lady immediately became agitated and a little aggressive.

"What do you want with it? You cannot have it, not since the last time!" she almost shouted at them.

"Helena, stop. These two are friends and they are good people. We need to find your mothers Diadem because we believe that Voldemort has used it to create a very dark item, a thing that needs to be destroyed in order to allow Harry to kill him." Luna told the distraught ghost.

They watched as the ghost visibly calmed down. "I apologise, the last person to ask after my mother's Diadem was that evil Tom Riddle, and he stole it and hid it somewhere. Even I do not know for certain where it is now."

Harry's heart fell at this news, if Rowena's daughter could not find the item, then what chance did they have.

"First of all my Lady, Tom Riddle is the same 'man' as Voldemort, and it is essential that we find the Diadem. We believe that Voldemort turned it into a Horcrux, and if we do not destroy it then all is lost as Voldemort will become immortal." Harry told her.

"HE DID WHAT?" Helena screeched causing the air around her to turn icy cold.

"He turned it into a Horcrux...well we think he did anyway." Hermione replied in a small voice.

The ghost turned away and raged a bit, cursing and floating through the walls as she did. She eventually calmed down and returned to the trio.

"My apologies once more, just the thought of what that monster did to my mother's treasured possession. I can see why you need to find it. However, I really do not know where he hid it."

"Can you think of anything that he said that may help us?" Hermione asked the now calm ghost.

"Well I did follow him when her first found the Diadem. He was muttering about some chamber or something."

"The Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked.

"No, not there. I think he was talking about Godric's chamber - The Griffin's Lair."

"Oh Merlin, I wasn't sure that it even existed." Hermione breathed. "It's talked about in _Hogwarts, A History_ but no one has ever been able to find it."

"Yes it is real, my mother talked about it. Each of the four of them had their own chambers; Salazar had the Chamber of Secrets. My mother had the 'Eagles Nest'. Helga had the 'Badger Set' and Godric had his Lair."

Harry looked at Hermione before turning to Helena. "Do you know where the Lair is?" he asked, hope evident in his voice.

Helena looked at him with a sad expression. "No, its location was never revealed to me."

Harry growled in defeat and frustration. He kicked the wall in anger and cried out in pain, before his body swiftly healed itself.

"But!... I'm sure that the heirs of this school can ask the right questions to the right entity, my Lord" Helena told him with a ghost of a smile.

Harry stopped and looked at her before turning to Hermione. "We only have three of the heirs here though!"

Luna gasped at this but remained quite.

"Yes, you are Gryffindor's and Hufflepuff and I am Raven..." she stopped and looked at Helena. Even though she was a ghost her dark brown hair was evident and the similarity was clear for all to see.

"Grandma?..."

"Yes my dear, you are my ultimate grand-daughter, the result of a brief dalliance between myself and the Baron before I left him. My daughter was born in secret and you are the result."

Hermione was stunned for a moment before continuing her train of thought. "Well if I am the heir of Ravenclaw, that still leaves Slytherin."

The ghost looked at the pair and was about to speak when Luna, who up till now had remained quite spoke up.

"Harry, you have defeated Voldemort at least three times yes?"

Harry nodded.

"Well in that case, according to Wizard law, you also hold the title of Slytherin by conquest. Between the two of you, you can take control of the school as its rightful heirs." She gushed, pleased that her friends were so important.

"Do you mean to say that we own the school?" Harry asked.

"No of course not, no one can own Hogwarts, didn't you know that she is alive, and you don't own living creatures. No, you are more her 'parents'. She will respond to you and protect you, but Professor McGonagall is still the headmistress."

"Luna, how do you know these things?" Hermione asked.

"Because Hogwarts is my friend. She would help me when no on else would. That was before I met you two. We need to help her now; she is in a lot of pain. The stuff that Snape did to her wards is hurting her a lot and she will die if we do not help her soon."

Harry felt a momentary surge of anger as he remembered the bullying that Luna had endured, but this was squashed as Luna placed her hand on his cheek. "It's okay Harry, it's in the past." She told him gently.

Harry sighed and looked up at the three women stood with him. "Okay, let's go and help Hogwarts and see if she can help us to find Griffins Lair."

Helena smiled at the trio and floated away, before coming back and mirroring Luna's gesture gently placed a cold hand against Hermione's cheek. Hermione felt the coldness pass through her and looked into her ancestors eyes.

"Come and visit me when this is all over my Hermione. We need to talk." She said before floating away through a wall.

"We need to find McGonagall" Harry stated and the trio left to make their way back to the headmistress's office. Once they got there the gargoyle just stepped aside and allowed them all entry. Hermione looked curiously at Harry and then back at the Gargoyle.

"The door will always open for you Lady Ravenclaw or your mate." The gargoyle told her.

"Oh!" she replied, blushing at the thought, and then smiling happily. They soon found themselves outside the door to the office and Harry was about to knock on the door when he heard a shout from inside followed by a cry. The three stopped and looked at each other in alarm, before Harry waved his hand and the door in front of them vanished. They rushed into the office to find a scene of devastation. The teachers were all spread across the room taking what little cover they could find and there wands drawn. In the centre of the room stood...well stood Snape, but not Snape. The figure looked exactly like the hatred ex-Headmaster apart from the fact that it was see-through. Nevertheless it was still capable of casting spells and had turned to face the newcomers. With his trademark sneer he cast a fast Reducto at the trio. Harry immediately conjured a shield, causing the curse to bounce off and hit the roof.

"What is it Mione?" Harry asked her from behind the shield.

"Not sure, but if I had to guess it's a Shade. Snape must have left a trap here and someone activated it."

"How do we get rid of it?" Luna asked worriedly.

"Harry!" came the shout of Professor McGonagall. "You need to destroy it with fire but only a very intense fire can destroy a Shade." She shouted from what sounded like under her desk.

Harry steeled himself and flung away the shield that he had raised. Immediately the Shade started casting spell after spell at Harry, most hitting him. Harry grunted in pain as cuts and gashes appeared all over his body. Hermione paled in pain and it was only Luna who managed to move her away from Harry and to safety. As soon as they were clear, Harry recast the shield spell, but encompassed the Shade as well as himself. He then gritted his teeth and called up the fire elementals. These burst forth and soon the inside of the shield was an intense inferno. The shade screamed in agony as it burnt and vanished, and Harry quickly passed out from the burns. As he did, the shield and the fire popped out of existence, leaving a blackened ring on the floor. In the centre was a naked burnt body, its features unrecognisable and unmoving. Hermione was also unconscious as she had felt the intense pain her mate had felt as he died. However soon, Harry's skin began to pale and heal, his hair re-growing and soon his body was normal and clear off all signs of the burns. With a gasp, both he and Hermione sat up as his resurrection brought her around at the same time.

"Holy Shit!" Harry cried and Hermione immediately went to him, conjuring a robe for him as she crawled over to him. Soon he was in her arms as they cried together. The rest of the room occupants slowly crawled out off whatever hiding space they had secreted themselves into. They were all looking at Harry and Hermione with a mixture of awe and fear as they contemplated the immortal pair knelt in each other's arms. Soon Minerva took charge and walked over to the pair.

"Harry, Hermione are you both okay?"

The two teens took a little while before they appeared to hear the question but eventually they slowly stood up and looked at the elder woman. Hermione helped Harry put on the robe, conjuring him a pair of shoes as she did. Finally Harry nodded with a grimace.

"That really, really hurt. Do you mind if I sit down please?" Harry asked

"Off course my boy, come and sit here." And the Headmistress conjured three more chairs to accompany the ones that had been upturned when the other staff members fled. These were soon righted and all of the rooms occupants were now sat.

"Harry, thank you for getting rid of that Shade. Snape left a trap that activated as soon as all the teachers were in this room and I declared myself Headmistress. We were struggling to contain it and no one dared to use fire on it in such a confined area. I must say that your spell work was amazing, and all without a wand as well."

Everyone nodded and Harry felt himself blushing as Hermione took his hand and gave it a squeeze. He knew that his secret was out with the staff, but didn't seem to mind. "Thank you everyone. As you may have guessed from earlier, Hermione and I have changed a little. We are both essentially immortal. When you all saw me fall earlier today, it wasn't a failed cushioning charm that knocked me out, but I was killed by the fall. Fawkes altered the memory from you all but if I cannot trust the teachers here, then who can I trust. This information is top secret so please do not disclose it."

As soon as he said this, the diminutive Professor Flitwick raised his wand and gave an oath never to reveal the information. Quickly every teacher in the room followed suit. Harry was overwhelmed at the show of support.

"Now Harry we had just stated the meeting, but what can we do for you?" Professor McGonagall asked him.

After a moment's thought and a quick look at Hermione, who nodded her approval, Harry turned and looked the teacher in the eye.

"This is also sensitive information. It seems that I am the heir of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff by blood and Slytherin by conquest and that Hermione is the heir of Ravenclaw. Between the two of us we are the schools heirs and protectors. We need to go to the Ward room to correct the wards that Snape placed on the school. The current ones are killing Hogwarts and we need to help her. We also need her help in locating Griffins Lair." Harry told her.

To say that the teachers were surprised was a slight understatement. Once they had got over the shock however Professor McGonagall spoke up.

"Griffins Lair is a myth isn't it?" she asked.

"Not according to the Grey Lady, who incidentally is Hermione's great-great Grandmother with a whole load more greats added." Luna told them. This caused more surprise and Hermione to blush from the attention.

"Well in that case this meeting will have to wait. You three come with me to the ward room. Luna you will have to wait outside, only myself and presumably these two will be allowed to enter."

"That's okay Ma'am. Hogwarts has let me in on a number of occasions when the Nargles changed the password to my dormitory and I had nowhere to sleep." Luna told her, causing both Harry and Hermione to scowl and glare at Professor Flitwick for not stopping the bullying. The head of Ravenclaw looked nervous, especially as Hermione was the Heir. He vowed there and then to stop any future bullying with his 'Claws'.

"Well okay then Miss Lovegood. Come along then." And she stood and led the trio out of the room and back down the stairs. They followed her along and past the main hall to a small passage way in the heart of the castle. There was a stone spiral staircase leading down deep into the basement of the castle. Eventually they came to a small wooden door. There was no obvious means of opening the door and it was only when professor McGonagall rested her hand on the worn surface of the door, did it open. They all walked inside and gasped at what they saw. Inside the room was a woman suspended in mid air. She was writhing around in agony as streams of blackness swirled around her. Her mouth was opened in a silent scream, and the tears were streaming down her distraught face. She was bound with magical back ribbons of magic and seemed to be unaware of their presence. On the floor in front of her was a stone 'alter' with a large stone tablet engraved with runes. There was an atmosphere of pain and death in the room, and there was evidence of blood on the floor and the tablet on the 'alter' was covered in blood and worse. The smell was disguising and after a quick look around they were shocked to find the blackened and broken body of a small first year child. Hermione and Luna turned and vomited, quickly followed by the headmistress. Harry steeled himself and walked over to the small bundle on the floor. He bent down in front of the body, noting that it was a small girl. She would have been pretty in life, with the remains of blonde hair just visible. With a sigh he concentrated and raised his hand. There was a yellow glow over the body and once it cleared the body was clean and whole again, dressed in Hufflepuff robes. The girl was still dead but looked as if she was merely asleep. Harry straightened her hair and kissed her forehead gently, before waving his hand once more and body vanished.

"She has gone to the infirmary; at least this way the family can see her to say their goodbyes." He said to no one in particular. He stood and walked over to his mate and pulled her into an embrace. "He will pay for this and all of his crimes."

"How could he do that? To a child as well?" Hermione asked in a broken voice. "And why?"

"As to the how, I cannot say, but for the why, he needed a victim to bind the wards of Hogwarts. Only dark magic could do this and it explains why we teachers have been so powerless to stop him. He has not only bound the school but us as well." Professor McGonagall explained.

"Well let's sort that out then shall we?" Harry said as he and Hermione walked over to the altar. With a wave of their hands they removed the blood and flesh from the tablet and then both placed there palms on the stone. As soon as they did they both began to glow and the light in the room dimmed. The binds that held the woman broke and with a flash she was free. The evil atmosphere in the room faded and smell of death and decay was replaced by one of fresh flowers and grass. The room brightened and with a gasp both Harry and Hermione removed their hands. Whilst they were in contact with the stone they had also replaced the wards around the castle with anti-Death-Eater ones as well as preventing anyone who wished harm from entering the school. For any normal witch or wizard this feat would have left them exhausted but for Harry and Hermione they didn't even notice the drain on their magic. They both had smiles on their faces as they looked up at the woman stood in front of them. Her appearance was radically altered. Gone was the expression of pain and the tears. Now stood a beautiful; if ageless woman. She smiled at the pair.

"Daddy, Mummy!" she cried and ran to them and flung herself on them.

" _Daddy? Mummy_?" Professor McGonagall mouthed to the giggling Luna.

"Well figuratively speaking she's right. Hogwarts is the child of the founders and those two are magical equivalent of them."

Hogwarts looked up at Luna and smiled. "Luna, are you well?" she asked. Her voice was odd, like many people talking at the same time.

"I am well Lady Hogwarts. It is good to see you again, and looking well now."

"Yes, these two helped me so much. What that man did to me was so horrid and that poor girl. It nearly broke me to see that. I am so glad Harry could at least restore her body. I just hope her spirit was able to move on after such a brutal death." The women replied, still held in Harry and Hermione's embrace. She finally released the pair and looked at them properly.

"Oh Sweet Merlin. You are both descendants from Merlin as well as my creators...and you're immortal?"

They both nodded shyly

"Goodness. That is amazing. I will have parents forever now, you will look after me wont you?" she asked like a small child.

Both Harry and Hermione nodded once more at this odd woman.

"Goody. Headmistress, I am now free and you and your colleagues are no longer bound. I wish you well as headmistress. I will not appear to you as I am now anymore as I can only appear to these three. Harry and Hermione because I am there's, and Luna because I love her. Teach well and good luck in the upcoming battle. Harry and Hermione, I have placed the knowledge of the Founders in you both. This contains spell knowledge as well as potions, charms and fighting skills. You now also have the knowledge of all of my secret locations. I wish you well by beloved parents and thank you." With a smile she faded away leaving a sense of happiness and well being in the room.

"Harry! I know where the Lair is!" Hermione shouted.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

In a darkened room in the Malfoy Manor, Lord Voldemort was not a happy Dark Lord. He had just finished punishing Snape and the young Malfoy. The room stunk of blood, urine and excrement from the pair. They were both sprawled out unconscious on the floor, twitching from the extreme effects of the Cruciatus curse. He had held them under it for so long that they had both bitten their tongues off. He searched their minds and found that they still had them - it was close in the boys case but both minds would recover eventually. He magically restored Snape's tongue, after all he still needed a potion master that could talk, but left the boy's missing. He found it amusing that the heir to the Malfoy name was a one armed, voiceless coward.

"RAT! Get in here!" he yelled

Peter Pettigrew paled and started to shake as he crawled into his Lord's presence. "Yes my Lord?" he asked in a stuttering voice.

"Find word from Bella. I need to know if she has completed her task." He commanded. "Oh and find me a witch, I feel the need to torture some more, and it seems I am running out of loyal Deatheaters."

"Yes my Lord."

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

'Ron' was worried. He had been hanging around the outskirts of the school in order to learn more about Harry and Hermione's apparent survival. He had watched the battle on top of the Astronomy tower and Harry's subsequent fall. No one, not even Harry could survive that, but then he watched from his vantage point, Harry get up and walk away. Now that was just impossible, even for Harry. As he sat on the tree top looking down, he suddenly felt the castle wards change, and with a violent push, he was expelled from the castle grounds. He found himself violently flung away and landed in a painful heap many miles away. He heard and felt his leg snap, and even with his natural healing skills, he knew that this body's time was waning. He needed to act and soon, but first...food. 'Now which direction to Hogsmeade?' he thought to himself, as he painfully staggered to his feet, his broken bones scrapping against each other.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve – The Diadem**

" _Harry! I know where the Lair is!" Hermione shouted._

"So do I" Harry said in amazement, as the knowledge of the Founders coursed through his mind.

"Great, come on then." Luna asked them.

"First we need to speak to the school, I did ask them to meet me in the Great Hall at midday and it's nearly that now." The Headmistress told them.

Luna pouted in disappointment, but Harry told her that he did promise to help the Headmistress out. The four of them left the ward room and slowly made their way to the Great Hall. As they walked they talked.

"So how are you two coping with the immortality?" Minerva asked.

"Well it's still very new, and a bit frightening. We don't feel any different in ourselves apart from been a lot more powerful. I guess it hasn't sunk in yet." Hermione told her.

"Have you thought what you are going to tell your parents?" the elder witch asked.

"Bugger! I hadn't thought about that yet. We also have to tell them that we are married. Once I restore their memory they may not wish to ever speak to me again. How could I do that to them?" Hermione cried.

"Mione, they will understand. And if anyone has to be worried it's me. I've effectively taken their daughter away from them and put her in incredible danger. Not only that, but married her without their permission or knowledge. They are going to hate me!" Harry told her.

"They will NOT hate you, they will love you once they get to know what a wonderful person you are, not only that but because of you there daughter will live and love forever."

"Well I think that you may have that conversation sooner than you think." Luna said with a smile.

"Why, what do you mean Luna?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Well you put a memory suppression charm on your parents, yes?" Luna asked her

"Well yes, I didn't want to remove the memory of me, just temporally make them forget."

"And what happens to those sorts of charms when the caster dies?" Luna asked with a grin.

"Well they ...Oh Shit!" Hermione exclaimed, her complexion suddenly turning pale.

"What are you two on about?" Harry asked still confused.

"Harry, you know this, when a long term charm is applied, what happens to the charm if the caster dies?"

"It fails...Oh!...crap!"

"Yes, I imagine that you two will be getting a rather irate visit soon." Luna said with a smile. "How long is the flight from Australia?"

"Twenty six hours or there abouts." Hermione said with a sigh. "That would have them landing about...now!" she said as she made the calculations. "That's assuming they left straight away."

"Good assumption, considering they just remembered a whole different life and a daughter they had forgotten." Luna told her.

"Yeah, it's what I would do." Hermione replied, now accepting of the events. "Dobby!" she called. With a pop the diminutive house elf appeared in front of them. Unlike before when he wore odd clothing, this time he was wearing a rather smart suit, with a Potter emblem on the breast pocket. He looked more mature and was a lot more relaxed in their presence.

"Yes Mistress Hermyny, how may Dobby help you today?" he asked in a more normal voice.

"How are you Dobby, and how is Winky?" she asked

"Dobby is well, as is Winky. We are both very happy to be married. Winky is looking after the Weasleys at the cottage as instructed."

"Thank you Dobby. I need you do something for me. We believe that my parents will be arriving at their home soon, and will be rather annoyed with me. Can you go there and if they arrive ask them to go with you to the cottage. I will come and see them as soon as I can, but I need them safe. Voldemort knows where they live and has attacked there once already. I cannot take the risk that they may do so again."

"Off course Mistress Hermyny, right away" and with a 'pop' he was gone. By now the quartet had made it to the main doors of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall stopped them before they entered and looked at Harry and Hermione with a calculating look.

"Lord and Lady Potter, may I ask a boon of you both?" she asked formally

Both teens caught the formal address and realised that this was not an idle question. They motioned for her to continue.

"I know that all the teachers have given their oath to keep your immortality a secret and that you asked for us to keep the news that your are the Founders Heirs a secret. I am asking you to reconsider the last of your request."

"Oh, may we ask why?" Harry asked.

"Off course. The students of this school have all experienced a most traumatic few months under the rule of that evil man. Many have been injured or worst and as we discovered at least one has been killed. They also have had little support and help from the teaching staff. Now we know that the dark magic Snape used not only changed the wards but also bound our magic to stop him from committing these atrocities, but they will feel naturally let down."

"Did you not suspect your magic had been bound?" Hermione asked, curious.

"Not until the other day. It was like living in a half dream, I was aware of what I was doing, and what was going on around me, but I was powerless to stop it. It was only when Poppy took me to your cottage and beyond the control of the school, that I became aware of the binding. I was going to try to do something when I got back but I was attacked before I could do anything. Anyway the students are going to feel let down by the teachers, whether it was their fault or not. If I tell them that the heirs of the Founders have returned and that they have altered the wards to protect us all then it may go some way in reassuring them that Hogwarts is once more safe."

Harry grimaced at the thought, he hated all the attention in the first place, and this would thrust both him and Hermione further into the spot light. Even as he thought that, the other part of his brain, the section that spoke with Hermione's voice was telling him that his own personal comfort was unimportant when the safety of all those students was at risk. He owed it to that small girl they had found, and all the others that were like her. Even as he was thinking this he could see Hermione nodding at him.

"Okay Professor, what do you need us to do?" he asked placing both their trust in her.

"Thank you both. All I need is for you to tell them what you have both done and what impact this would have. If you could mention about the teachers been bound as well that may help to re-enforce the information with them. What are your official titles?"

They both answered and the headmistresses eyebrows rose at the 'Emrys' name. She knew straight away what it signified and had to stop herself from curtsying to the pair.

"Ok Professor. Can I ask a question?" Harry asked her once she regained her composure.

"Of course."

"What was the name of the young girl we found?" Harry asked in a quiet voice.

Professor McGonagall's eyes widened and for a moment they saw the real Minerva McGonagall. Not the sometimes harsh and brusk teachers, but the woman who had spent most of her life looking after her charges, and often falling in love with them in one form or another. They saw the pain of loneliness and the pain of failure in her eyes before she answered them.

"Charlotte. Charlotte Perkins. She was only e-e-eleven..." this was enough for the tears to begin falling down her face. Hermione rushed to her and embraced the older teacher.

"Professor...Minerva, It wasn't your fault. Snape killed her and he WILL pay for that, I promise you that. Now you need to be strong, the time for grief can wait."

It was odd to see the younger woman comfort the older, but Minerva took comfort from Hermione and straightened her back and wiped away the tears.

"Thank you Hermione, you are a good woman. Shall we do this?" she asked.

With a nod from the trio, Professor McGonagall pushed open the doors and walked into the Great Hall. The entire student body was stood waiting for her, and all the teachers were stood at the front. All heads turned to watch the new headmistress and her guests and it was so quite you could hear a wand drop. As the four of them slowly made their way up the centre of the room, one person slowly began to clap, this was followed by another and then another until soon the entire hall was filled the noise of clapping and cheering. The chant "McGonagall! McGonagall!" was soon taken up and the elderly witch's eyes were once more filled with tears, this time for happier reasons. She mounted the stage and stood and the front, Harry, Hermione and Luna behind her. She tried in vain to calm the enthusiastic applause for a few minutes, before her actions seemed to have some effect.

"Thank you all, I'm not sure that I deserve your applause, but I am very pleased that you seem happy about the change in head teacher. I have a few things that I need to say, and I first need to begin with an apology. An apology to all of you who have suffered under Snape and his punishment squad. We teachers are supposed to keep you free from harm whilst you are under our care and we failed in that job. We have since leant that Snape altered the wards on the school and also bound all the other teachers' magic, but this is no excuse. I have arranged for a few councillors and extra medical staff to be available if anyone wishes to see them. Any female that has been affected in a more personal manner then we have specialists from St Mungos coming to help." She paused as she let her words sink in with the now subdued students. After a while she continued.

"You will be all pleased to know that Snape has fled and that Amycus Carrow is dead. His sister, Filch and the punishment squad will be all kept in the dungeons. There wands have been snapped and the elves have bound there magic. There will be NO retribution for any student from Slytherin who has not taken part in these disgusting activities. Any student that has been involved however can expect the same treatment. You will be pleased to know that the wards have been altered but not by myself but by the heirs to the Founders of Hogwarts. The two heirs have only just found about their heritage and are a little shocked by it themselves. I ask you to respect their privacy and give them the space they need to perform the tasks they need to do in order to bring this war to an end. Please allow me to introduce Lord Harry James-Hufflepuff-Gryffindor-Emrys Potter and Slytherin by conquest and Lady Hermione Jean-Ravenclaw-Emrys Potter."

There was a stunned silence as everyone processed the information. No one spoke or made any noise; that was until Lavender Brown shouted very loudly, "Bloody Hell married?"

At this a small giggle started and then a laugh. Once more the hall erupted in a cacophony of sound, a mixture of applause and laughter at Lavenders comment.

Harry moved to the front of the stage and waited until the noise had died down. "Guys, calm down. It's still Hermione and I. We only found about this the other day. I'll keep this short as public speaking has never been my thing. Mione and I have repaired the wards. No one with a Dark Mark will be allowed into the school grounds, nor will anyone wishing to harm a student be allowed. Anyone already with a Dark Mark in the school will have their magic bound to squib level and once they leave they will never be allowed back. We have also removed the bindings from the teachers and they now have full control of the school. That is all I wish to say."

Harry moved to sit down but there was a shout from the Gryffindor table.

"Are you two staying now?" Seamus asked.

"Sorry no, we have a small task to do here and then we need to move on. I cannot tell you anymore at the moment, but suffice to say Professor McGonagall is in complete agreement with us."

"Where's Ron?" Lavender asked everyone aware of their brief fling a few years ago. Lavender still harboured a candle to the red-head.

Harry paused, unsure on how to handle this situation. He turned to look at Hermione who shrugged. "We cannot tell them but Lavender should be told" she whispered in his ear. Harry turned back to the crowd.

"Ron has left us, and that is all we can say on the matter at the moment. Miss Brown, we will speak to you privately later. Are there any other questions?" Harry asked

"Yes, when did you get married?" Padme asked

Harry blushed and looked at his wife for support. Hermione moved up to strand next to him and addressed the crowd. "Harry and I made our magical wedding vows a few days ago. The magic accepted the vows and we are now married. Once all this is over and Voldemort is really dead, we will have a proper wedding ceremony."

"Where were you when you got married?" Lavender asked.

"We were in the shower together!" Hermione replied to the gasps from the girls and the catcalls from the boys. "If that's all, I will hand back over to your new headmistress" Hermione replied with a proud grin on her face.

"Well yes" Minerva said, a little embarrassed. "Now onto the future. As Lord Potter has said, no one with a Dark Mark will be allowed into the school, that is not to say they will not try other means to attack us. We need to work together to keep our world safe. We will be doubling the amount of defence lessons, and I have contacted some friends of mine and we will be getting some additional guards in the form of some ex-Aurors. No Hogsmeade visits will be allowed, but you will be allowed to contact your parents. Now onto a more sad note. The Potters and I recently discovered that the way in which Snape changed the wards. You may have all noticed that young Miss Perkins disappeared a few weeks ago. We all thought she had run away, but it appears that Snape took her and used her blood to make the change to the wards. He killed her and left her body to rot. Lord Potter restored her body, but she is still dead. This is the world in which we are currently living and I say enough is enough. We will honour young Miss Perkins by working our hardest to make this world a better one."

She could see the tears in some of the student's eyes and they learnt about the young Hufflepuff's fate. Her words also seemed to galvanise the minds of the students. This was their school, and their world. Not the Deatheaters and certainly not Voldemort's.

"Now unless there are any other burning issues, I suggest we eat lunch. Lessons for the rest of the day are cancelled whilst the staff and I review the timetables. Can the Prefects from last year resume their duties and meet with me after lunch. If your house is missing any Prefects" at this she looked over at Slytherin, "Can the few that you do have meet with me with recommendations for replacements."

With that the food appeared and a subdued group of students started to eat. Professor McGonagall sighed and turned around to face her teachers and the trio stood with them.

"We have a lot of work to do, and a lot of young people that need our help. Let's eat and then start the real work."

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The trio were stood in the office of the new headmistress. The headmistress had just finished an impromptu staff meeting that had resulted in many changes to the staffing and the timetable. The councillors and extra medical staff had arrived and had set up. Students were already been seen, and even though many tears had been shed, the councillors had assured everyone that this was a good sign. As Founders Heirs Harry and Hermione had been asked to be present at the staff meeting and Luna had tagged along, but other than the odd comforting word they had not contributed much. They were both eager to look for the Lair.

"Ma'am..."

"Harry, when we are in private, do you think you can call me Minerva. With all your titles I'm finding it hard not to get down on one knee whenever you enter the room, so the least you can do is to call me by my given name."

"Sorry, Minerva...gosh that's going to be hard to get used to, anyway, would you like to come with us to the Lair?"

The headmistress smiled for the first time in a while at the thought. "Yes, I would love to. Ever since I was a student here, I often wondered about the Founders room, and if they were a myth. Now I'm sat her with their heirs. You try to stop me from coming with you." Her words and the look in her eyes had done remarkable things for the elder women; they made her look young and vibrant once more.

With a smile Harry led them down the steps and towards the Gryffindor tower. As they walked they passed the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff Dormitories. Peeking out from behind the corner Harry spotted a young looking girl. However unlike most girls this one was see-through, but unlike the rest of the ghost they had seen, she was still colour, faded but coloured nevertheless. She was looking terrified and Harry could see that the colour of her hair was blonde. With a sad look he connected the dots in his head.

"Charlotte?" he called. "Is that you?" the rest of their group had stopped and was looking over at the young ghost.

"Miss Perkins? It's okay, no one is going to hurt you now." Minerva gently told her. The ghost slowly moved her way around the wall and walked over to the group. Even though she was floating a few inches above the ground, she still moved her legs when she walked. The tears were clearly visible on her face as she wept.

"Professor McGonagall! It was horrible; he really hurt me and look at me now! What am I supposed to do?" The ghost tried to hold on to the elder woman but she passed through her. With a cry of frustration she turned her back and made to leave.

"Charlotte wait! I may be able to help." Harry called after her. This caused the young sprit to stop and turn.

"Help? How? And who are you?" she asked in a small voice.

"Hi! I'm Harry Potter, and first you need to tell me how long you have been a ghost?"

"Not long I think, I was still in my body, bound by the evil magic, but then something happened and I felt myself been released. I could have moved on, but I needed to stay, I not sure why but something was telling me to stay. I felt bound to the castle and she was telling me to find the One."

"What 'one'?" Luna asked.

"The one who can help me. That's all I know." She replied

Hermione looked over at Harry with a look. "What are you thinking Harry?" she asked.

"Well look at her, she's more than just a ghost, she has a soul, and her body is now in perfect condition. Why don't we just connect the two back together?"

"Mr Potter, that's not possible, no one can bring back the dead?"

"Oh I agree if the soul has moved on, that's necromancy and very dark, however this is different. Young Miss Perkins here has not moved on, her soul is intact as is her body. I have the knowledge and the power to do this. When I got the knowledge from Lady Hogwarts, I remembered that Helga did this once for Godric. He was attacked and his soul removed from his body. Everyone thought he was dead, but Helga knew that she could help and she did. This is the same situation; Miss Perkins did not die a natural death, if we don't do this then she will be fated to this existence for all eternity. That's not a fate I would want and we owe it to her to try."

"Your right Mr Potter. Well her body is in the infirmary. Her parents arrived just after lunch and are with her now. I guess we need to do this now yes?"

"Yes, come with me Charlotte" Harry told the girl. "Let's get you sorted."

The group changed direction and made their way to the infirmary. As they entered they found it full of students, councillors and medical staff. Madam Pomfrey made her way to the group.

"Headmistress, how may I help you? You seem to have Mr Potter with you but unlike most times I see him he seems uninjured this time...Oh Miss Perkins, I am so sorry."

"Poppy, where are the Perkins?" Minerva asked her old friend.

"They are in a side room, why?"

"Take us to them, and please stay, you may be needed."

The healer led the odd band of people to a small side room of the main ward. Inside was a heart wrenching scene; a young couple was stood crying over the small body of Charlotte. The woman had the same blonde hair and her father was trying to comfort his wife, but not getting very far. Both appeared to be muggles judging by their clothes. The tears were flowing down the faces of both adults as they tried to come to terms with the situation, but as soon as they heard the door open they both looked up at the people who had intruded in their grief.

"McGonagall! You told me that Charlotte would be safe here and now look!" the man grated at her.

"Mr Perkins, I cannot tell you how sorry I am, but do not give up hope..."

"Hope? What hope, my only child, my little Charlotte is dead and you talk about hope!" he snarled at her. That was before the other figure in the room came forward.

"Daddy?" the little ghost said in a broken voice.

"Lotte? What? Is this some sick joke?" he asked, his wife looking up for the first time.

"No Daddy, it's really me"

Both parents stood and walked to their daughter, both trying to embrace her. When they failed they both looked up in fear and confusion. The Headmistress tried to explain.

"Sir, your daughter did not die a natural death. When the previous headmaster took her he used her life-force to commit a truly evil act. Her Soul and essence was bound to this castle in a way no one imagined. When Lord Potter here broke the spell it realised her from the purgatory she was suffering. Normally when this happened the soul is allowed to move on to the next great adventure, but in this case because she was bound to the castle this didn't happen and she became a ghost, but more than that, a ghost with a soul. Because Harry repaired her body this presents us with a unique opportunity. Harry says he can meld the two back together."

"You mean she would be alive?" the woman spoke for the first time.

"Yes, but there are conditions." Harry said for the first time. "Sorry, my name is Harry, and yes I know how to bring her back, but as I said there are conditions. She would still be bound to the castle for all her life. She would not be able to leave the grounds for any length of time, a few hours at the most. She would not be able to come to your home or perform any magic that would hurt the castle in any way, but yes she would be alive. She would live a normal lifespan, and as I am the heir to the Founders of this castle I can assure you that she would have a place here. First as a student and then as an adult, a teacher maybe. I can also assure you that both of you are welcome here at any time you wish to see your daughter."

"You would do that? You can do that? Charlotte is this what you want?" her dad asked her

"Well it's not as good as been able to come home, but is better than been dead...or a ghost." The young girl replied.

After consulting with his wife he turned to Harry. "Well if you are sure, then please go ahead." He said

Harry took a deep breath and walked over to the inert body. Hermione followed him and they stood on either side of the young girl.

"Charlotte, please come and stand at the foot of the bed." Harry asked the ghost. "This may hurt a little but it will be okay." With that he took Hermione's hand in one of his and they both placed their free one on the chest of the girl. Both shut their eyes and began to concentrate. The lights in the room dimmed as the occupants felt the build up of magic. It began to crackle around the two stood over the body, and they both began to glow a bright white light. Harry raised his head and spoke a long incantation that he repeated three times.

" _Naturae viribus dominorum peto ut anima corpori terrestri rursus ad terminum. Magica mei mandabo per magicam antiquiores esse!_

 _Naturae viribus dominorum peto ut anima corpori terrestri rursus ad terminum. Magica mei mandabo per magicam antiquiores esse!_

 _Naturae viribus dominorum peto ut anima corpori terrestri rursus ad terminum. Magica mei mandabo per magicam antiquiores esse."_

The ghost stood at the foot of the bed began to dissolve into tiny particles of silver light; the last part to disappear was her face as she smiled at the pair stood over her. The particles flew around the room for moment before settling over the body and slowly dissolved into the waiting shell. Bright light once more filled the room as Charlotte glowed before the light faded and the two stood over her collapsed to the floor. Poppy caught Hermione and Minerva caught Harry. They both gently lowered them to the ground and watched. The chest of Charlotte slowly rose as she took in a breath and with as gasp she opened her eyes and cried out in pain, fear and horror.

"MUMMY! DADDY!" with these cries her parents rushed to her side and held there once more alive daughter. Both had expressions of absolute love on their faces as they held her.

"Shush 'Lotte, it's going to be alright!" her mother softly told her.

Both Harry and Hermione groaned as they regained consciousness. They were both as weak as a new born kitten but the scene playing out in front of them warmed their hearts and gave them a bigger boost that a vat load of Pepper-up potion could ever have done.

Mrs Perkins looked over at the two exhausted teens and with happy tears falling down her face thanked them.

"Thank you two so much for giving us out 'Lotte back, we never can repay you for that and you have made a friend for life in all three of us."

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It had been an emotional hour or so after the ritual had been performed. Both parents had hugged Harry and Hermione but it was when the young girl had kissed both on the cheek that resulted in the facade cracking and both Harry and Hermione broke down and cried with her. Poppy Pomfrey was amazed at what she had witnessed. Never in her entire life had she seen such powerful magic and she was just glad that the two of them were on the side of light. Luna was over the moon, she knew that the young girl had a part to play in the deeds of the future, and when they had discovered her body she was at a loss on how things would work out. The magic that the pair had performed put everything back on track and also reunited a family.

After Harry had found guest quarters for the trio, and Poppy had performed some scans on the young girl they were allowed to leave and had begun the process that would bring their lives back to some sort of normality. Harry, Hermione, Luna and the headmistress had resumed their journey to the Lair. Once more Harry was leading them towards the Gryffindor tower, but instead of opening the entrance guarded by the Fat Lady, he had continued down the corridor to a small disused room that had been used as a store room in the past. Brooms and cleaning equipment had been left, along with the remains of a long since dead animal. Harry waved his wand and cleared the room. In the corner was a small statue built into the wall. Upon closer examination it was a small statue of a Griffin.

"Is this it Harry?" Minerva asked them.

"This is the entrance way yes; you may need to stand back a little." Harry told her. Her placed his hand on the statue and whispered a few words " _Ddro ta amin_!"

"What language was that?" the headmistress asked.

"Elfish, I think" Luna replied.

Harry looked over his shoulder at the pair and grinned as the small griffin statue rotated and moved away from the wall. Behind it was a small panel with a hand shaped indentation on it. Harry reached inside and placed his hand on the panel. This caused the entire back wall to flicker and fade away leaving a door. This silently opened and allowed them to see the large room on the other side. It was a large study like area with a desk and chair. On one wall were rows of book shelf full of old looking books. There was a large fire-place and a small table next to it. The walls were of deep oak panelling and the stone floor was shiny with use. A beautiful rug covered part of the floor and old tapestries hung on the walls. On one of the wall hung a large painting of a blonde haired man, with a familiar looking sword in his hand. The painting was static, as if asleep. On the desk stood a silver circlet with a large sapphire stone in the centre.

"The Diadem!" Luna breathed. They had found it. Luna was about to walk into the room when Harry suddenly stopped her.

"Luna wait! This doesn't feel right." He held his hand up to the entrance and closed his eyes.

"Bugger!" he breathed. "There is a time-lock on the door. If you had entered you would have aged and died within seconds. It's only on the entrance, beyond time is moving normally but anyone entering would age over a hundred years in moments."

"Damm, okay let's try this, _Accio Diadem_!" Hermione called, but the Diadem remained where it was. "Well that was always going to be a long shot!" she said. "What now?"

"Simple, I go and get it" Harry replied.

"But Harry, you will age and die...oh!" the Headmistress said.

"Exactly, I will not die, but it may sting a bit."

"Harry, you sure about this?" Hermione asked him.

"Yeah, wish me luck" and with that he walked through the entrance. The effect was startling, for a few seconds he seemed to freeze, his hair tried to grow very long, along with his finger nails. However the anti-aging part of his immortality stopped it and his appearance returned to normal. The same could not be said for his clothes. The sudden addition of over a hundred years was too much of a stain on the cotton and they dissolved like dust, leaving a very naked Harry stood in what looked like a pair of very old leather boots. Harry seemed unaware of this for a moment and as he passed the time lock he turned and grinned at the now blushing females. Even though this was the second time this day he had been naked, the first time people had been so traumatised by his burning that they had not noticed and Hermione had covered him quickly. This time however he was stood for all to see, with nothing but a grin on his face.

"Wow, Hermione you are a very lucky girl!" Luna breathed.

"Luna!" Hermione admonished, blushing at the comment.

Harry suddenly seemed to notice that he was a little cooler than normal and took this opportunity to look down. With a look of horror, he moved his hands to cover himself. Unfortunately he still had his wand in his hand, and managed to hit himself with it. With a cry of pain he crumpled onto his knees. The ladies all winced for him as he knelt there in pain. With a pained wave of his wand he cancelled the time-lock from his side of the room and Hermione moved to him. Conjuring a cloak and cloths she dressed him with another wave of her hand. "You okay love?" she asked him

"Yes!" came a higher than normal pitched Harry. With a feeble laugh Hermione pulled him into a hug, causing Harry to wince in pain again.

"Immortal maybe, but not immune to pain" he muttered. Once he had recovered they all walked over to the Diadem.

"Well, what do we do next?" Luna asked.

"Well we could smash it; that would get rid of the soul fragment." Hermione said.

"You can't destroy it, that's the Diadem of your Great Grandmother, it's said to contain eons of knowledge, and it's priceless." Luna told her.

"Okay then, we'll do it another way" and before anyone could stop her, she picked it up and put it on her head.

"NO!" Harry shouted, but it was too late.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen – Consequences**

" _Well we could smash it; that would get rid of the soul fragment." Hermione said._

" _You can't destroy it, that's the Diadem of your Great Grandmother, it's said to contain eons of knowledge, and it's priceless." Luna told her._

" _Okay then, we'll do it another way" and before anyone could stop her, she picked it up and put it on her head._

" _NO!" Harry shouted, but it was too late._

As soon as the metal circlet touched her head, Hermione's body stiffened, at first she smiled as the Ravenclaw knowledge transferred to her mind. Without warning however, she suddenly screwed up her eyes as a dark formless cloud appeared around her. Her face took the expression of intense pain, and she threw her head back and screamed a blood curdling scream, that chilled the bones of all stood around her. As her face came back into view everyone was shocked to see her eyes had turned bright red and an evil sneer was present on her face. Harry ran to her but was thrown back by an invisible force. Hermione's face once more screwed up and when she opened her eyes again, they were back to the normal chocolate brown. She looked at Harry with a frightened look and then, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, she collapsed. Harry rushed to her, and this time he was allowed to approach her. He tried to remove the Diadem, but it was stuck to her head like glue. Her body was twitching and convulsing, her eyes rolled back into her head. Occasionally her eyes would come into view and they would alternate between red and brown.

"What's happening to her?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"She's fighting for her soul, Riddle is trying to gain control of her body and only Hermione can stop him." Luna replied in her singsong voice.

"Come on Mione, fight the bastard!" Harry whispered to her.

As he held her hand, she suddenly went limp, and she just stopped. Harry looked at the two other women frantically, as the headmistress felt for a pulse in Hermione's neck. After a few seconds she looked over at Harry and just shook her head.

"That's not possible; she is immortal...isn't she?" Harry asked desperately.

No one knew what to say to the distraught man.

 _ **Inside Hermione's mind.**_

 _As soon as she put the Diadem on, Hermione knew that it was a stupid thing to do. She was initially pleasantly surprised by the transfer of knowledge that begun. It seemed that the original design of the Diadem had not been destroyed, and it was trying to complete its original design task. Quickly this stopped and Hermione felt pain like she had never felt before. She could feel Voldemort's essence enter her mind and invade her very body. As her body began to shut down, she retreated to her mind and prepared to fight for her very soul and existence._

 _Slowly she opened her eyes and was not that surprised to find herself in a large ornate looking library. The floor was made of polished interlocking brick of wood, and the shelves of books seemed to lead off in all directions, with no visible end to the structure. The room had that undeniable smell of old leather bound books and polish, and Heroine immediately felt calmer and more at home._

 _As she stood she became aware of an alien presence in her mind. Turning around she saw the slowly forming shape of a man wearing dark green robes. His face finally formed into that of a gaunt looking man with odd snake like glowing red eyes. His features were more human that the more recent Voldemort, as this was his original body, but the expression was the same, that of intense arrogance and disdain for all other that himself._

" _Well ,well Mudblood. I never thought that you would be so stupid as to put it on, you silly little bitch. I never wanted a female form, but I guess it will do for now. Would you kindly let me kill you and be done with it or do you wish to put up some pathetic resistance and then I will kill you?" Voldemort sneered._

 _Hermione looked at the figure dispassionately. She knew that she could beat the shade, but she would have to be clever. Without a word she fired a cutting curse at him and smiled as he only just managed to dodge it._

" _Fucking Bitch, you will pay for that...AVEDA KEDAVERA!" Voldemort roared as the green curse shot towards Hermione, who knew she could not dodge it in time. Instead she gambled everything on something and allowed the curse to hit her. It hurt, it hurt a lot but the energy of the curse finally dissipated and left her stood there, panting slightly due to the pain._

" _Idiot! And they say that you are the best there is. We are not in the real world Tommy-Boy; a killing curse cannot work here."_

 _Voldemort snarled at her and let lease a barrage of spells and curses. "Well if that won't work, then I will have to kill you the old fashioned way. More fun this way anyway!"_

 _Hermione was dodging the curses and using shield spells to help. She was surprised by the ferocity of Voldemort's attack, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She called upon the elemental magic and sent wave upon wave of fire and ice at him. The first wave he managed to avoid, but the second wave hit him square on. Voldemort screamed in pain and surprise as the fire burnt his skin and clothes. With a sharp 'pop' he vanished and Hermione stopped her attack. Sensing that it wasn't over yet, she maintained her shield as she walked over to the spot he had occupied. All of a sudden she was hit from behind by a cutting curse that shattered her shield, and then another that cut deeply into her. The third severed her arm from her body. She screamed in pain and anguish as her arm fell, causing her body to slump to the ground. She slowly managed to turn herself around and quickly she spotted Voldemort, looking totally unharmed behind her._

" _Foolish child! Did you really think that your powers would be a match for mine? I must admit to been impressed by your elemental magic. That will be useful when I have control of this body." He seemed to concentrate a little and then smiled. "What's this? Immortality...oh that is fantastic. I will rule to world with this body, just as soon as I have tortured and killed all your friends and ... parents...yes! You tried to hind them from me, but like all before you, you have failed. I shall enjoy killing them with your form, watching the anguish and sorrow in their eyes." He cast another cutting curse and Hermione weakly tried to cast a shield. This shattered and the cutting curse hit her across the chest, cutting deeply into her breasts. She cried in pain and her head slumped in defeat._

 _Voldemort laughed at her and slowly walked to his fallen foe. "Weak child, you cannot hope to beat me. Do you have any last words before I destroy you and take your body?"_

 _As he walked he had come close to Hermione and he had knelt down in front of her. This is what she had been waiting for, the severed arm that lay a few feet away, vanished and reappeared on her arm. The cuts and gashes on her body disappeared and with a growl her hand shot up and grabbed the man by the throat._

" _Yes, actually Tom, Get the fuck out of my head!" and she squeezed her hand tight. Voldemort looked amazed at her and tried casting curses at her to make her stop. Nothing seemed to work as the curses seemed to bounce of her. By now she was stood and her hair was flying around in a magical wind, her eyes glowed silver and magic was crackling around her._

" _Who are you?" Voldemort managed to croak, "What are you?"_

" _You never stood a chance Tommy, I have more power than you could possibly dream of, I am Lady Hermione Jean Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter, and I am immortal. You are nothing but a shade, a pathetic ghost of an even more pathetic man. Now be-gone!" and with that she snapped his neck with a jerk of her hand. The light in Voldemort's eyes faded and with a gentle sigh the body faded away._

 _Hermione let her and fall and with a smile wiped it against her cloak. It was time to go back, but as she was about to leave, she felt the Diadem continue its knowledge transfer. As she stood she could feel the magic work and a long line of book appeared in the library. She giggled as the new information was feed into her brain and her powers grew even more._

 **In the real world.**

Harry was knelt next to his wife, her heart had stopped and she was silent as the grave. Luna and Professor McGonagall were knelt next to him. No one spoke as they all looked at the apparently dead women. Suddenly a dark mist rose from her body, taking the form of a face before screaming in agony as it faded from view, the scream echoing around the room. The diadem glowed once and fell from Hermione's head, with a gasp Hermione sat up, causing Luna and Professor McGonagall to scream in surprise.

"Mione! Are you, you?" Harry asked her in trepidation.

Hermione opened her eyes and to everyone's relief they were her normal chocolate brown colour. "Hello husband, yes it's me. He never stood a chance, not when I have you to come back to."

With a cry Harry took her in his arms, the tears rolling down his face as he hugged his wife. After a while he gently punched her on the arm.

"Do you know what a stupid thing that was to do Mione?" he admonished.

"Yeah, NOW I do, but hey at least the diadem is still intact." she replied, picking up the circlet and swirling it around her finger.

"I'll take that Mrs Potter, do you know how valuable it is for you to be playing with it like that?" the headmistress asked.

"Well, actually it belongs to me, as the Lady Ravenclaw, but I will allow you to take it and place it in the school somewhere. Everyone should have the option to look at it, but don't bother putting it on, the knowledge it contained has already been transferred...to me."

"Ah, I'm sorry Lady Ravenclaw, I forgot about your heritage. The school would be honoured to house the Diadem. Are you sure that it's free from the evil that tainted it?"

"Oh it's free alright, that's another Horcrux down, only two to go!" she said with a smile.

Luna smiled at her but then her eyes rolled back into her head.

" _The sixth is in the possession of great evil, the Lord and Lady of the night protect it. The ones that control the Bank know where you need to go but beware the soul eater, he seeks it too."_ With a sigh, she collapsed, only been caught by Harry's Seeker reflexes. He gently lowered her to the ground, and looked over at Hermione.

"Well, that's clear. We need to go to Gringotts as soon as possible. Who are the Lord and Lady?"

"Not sure Harry, it rings a bell but I cannot be sure. Whoever they are you can be sure that they won't be friendly. We need to go back to the Cottage first, Luna needs to rest and I may need to face my parents." She said with a grimace.

Harry smiled at her, "Don't worry Mione, I will be with you every step of the way. If anyone should be worried, it's me. I've married their daughter, got her killed a few times and that's only for starters."

"Well at least my Dad cannot kill you, well at least not permanently." She replied with a relieved smile.

By now Luna had come around but was very sleepy and tired. Harry lifted her up bridal style and stood to face the headmistress.

"Minerva, thank you for all your help. We will be back soon to see Charlotte and for Hermione to meet with her Grandmother, but if you don't mind we need to get this little one to bed."

Professor McGonagall smiled and nodded at the immortal pair.

"Good luck you two, and we will see you before you go after the next Horcrux? We will be having a Quidditch match and I know that the Gryffindor team will want to see the best Seeker they ever had."

"Off course, till then." Harry replied, and the three of them faded away, leaving the Headmistress on her own.

"Amazing!" she muttered before beginning the return journey to her office.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Bellatrix Lestrange apparated back to the Malfoy manor, her mission accomplished. As she arrived she was joined by Wormtail.

"The Master wants to speak to you now, he is most displeased by your lateness." He told her with a degree of glee.

Bella shuddered as she contemplated the pain she would soon be feeling, but daren't not obey the order. She slowly made her way to the dining room that the master had made his throne room and silently opened the door.

"Bella! You have returned, but you are late...Crucio!"

Bellatrix screamed as the curse hit her and fell to her knees. The master kept the curse on her for a full minute before releasing her. He gave her a few seconds to compose herself.

"Report!"

"M-m-my Lord, the cup is safe with the Lord and Lady; they swear to look after it and thank you for your gift."

"Ah yes, did they enjoy Yaxley and McNair?"

"They seem to find them both very...tasty my Lord." Bella replied with a grin.

"Good, their sacrifice will be remembered. Did they kill them or..."

"They killed them my Lord; they didn't want to add them to their ranks. It might have had something to do with the screaming and cursing that they did before hand."

Voldemort laughed a dead laugh before turning back to his most trusted slave.

"Good, they were always too vocal anyway. Now all I need to do is to kill that Potter brat and the world will be mine."

"And you're other artefacts?" Bella asked.

"How dare you question me? They are none of your concern...Crucio!" and once more Bella was screaming. Unknown to the writhing witch, Voldemort was aware of the destruction of yet another of his anchors and the knowledge scared him. He was sure that the remaining two were safe, after all the Lord and Lady were not likely to give the cup up and the last one, well no one would ever guess it's location.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry, Hermione and Luna appeared in the main entrance hallway to the cottage. The cottage was quite but Harry and Hermione could sense the presence of the Weasleys and Xeno immediately. There was also the presence of others in the cottage. Hermione gulped and paled at the thought.

"Dobby!" Harry called and the house elf appeared in front of him.

"Master Harry, how may Dobby serve you today?" Dobby asked in a much more normal voice.

"Dobby, could you take Luna to her room and allow her to rest, she may need some food and drink." Harry asked him. Dobby looked at the sleepy girl in Harry's arms and with a click of his fingers he moved her to her bedroom before vanishing himself.

"Winky!" Hermione called out. Her Elf arrived silently and looked at her mistress.

"Mistress Hermione, it is good to see you." She said with a smile.

"Winky it's good to see you too. How are things in the cottage?" Hermione asked her.

"The Weasleys are well; Mistress Ginny has fully recovered and is currently helping her mother with some baking. Mr Weasley, the twins and Master Charlie are in the study talking. Master Bill returned home with his wife. Master Lovegood is walking the grounds looking for a Wrackspurt, but I am unsure on what one of those is. Oh and Mistress, your parents arrived this morning, they are not happy at all and demanded to see you just as soon as you arrived. I have left them in the main reception room."

"How are they Winky?" Hermione asked in a nervous voice.

"They appear well but very angry and confused. They wanted me to take them to you right away but I managed to persuade them to wait here. They were very tired and were talking about something called 'Jetlag' but I do not know of this aliment. I gave them a mild pepper-up potion and this seemed to cure them. I hope I have done well Mistress?"

"You have done fantastic Winky. Could you keep them in the lounge for a little while longer whilst we go see Molly and Ginny? I need to build myself up to facing them for what I have done to them."

"Off course Mistress. Once thing I can tell, even though they are very angry with you, they both still love you a great deal; they are just cross and a little afraid of why these things happened to them." The House Elf told her.

A single tear rolled down Hermione's cheek as she listened to the diminutive House Elf, prompting Harry to hold her in a tight embrace.

"It will be fine Mione, I will be with you every step of the way." He told her in her ear, causing her to shiver at the sound of his words.

They took each other's hands and walked to the kitchen, opening the door they both looked in at the scene that was presented to them. Molly Weasley was covered in flour and was chasing Ginny around the wooden kitchen table. Ginny was struggling to run as she was laughing so much. Her hair was streaked with flour and the kitchen was a mess. There was a haze of flour in the air and the floor was covered in it. Molly was screeching at her youngest, but both Harry and Hermione could see the smile on her face as she chased Ginny with a handful of the white powder.

"Ginevra Weasley, how dare you use a flour bomb on your poor mother, just you wait until I get you!" she screeched, laughing as she chased the young girl around the table, throwing handfuls of flour as she did.

"Ahem!" Harry announced from the door, just as Molly through the remainder of the flour. Both women crashed to a halt, allowing the flour to rain down on them as she turned to the door. Both women had tears running down their eyes from laughing, but they also now had blushes creeping up their faces as they realised that they had been caught red-handed.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled. "You're back!"

"Yes, and it seems not a moment too soon! You two look like you're having fun!" he smiled at the now sheepish looking pair

"Harry dear, sorry about the mess. We were baking bread and well...things got out of hand. It was just so nice to be able to have some fun with Ginny after...well you know." She had taken out her wand and had already performed a cleaning charm on both the kitchen and herself and Ginny.

Now struggling not to laugh Harry told the pair that it was fine and that it was nice to hear them both laugh after the recent tragedies.

"Hermione, your parents are here, they are not very happy with you." Molly told the young woman.

"I know; I'm building up to seeing them. How are you both doing?"

"Good, considering. I still have bad moment when I think about Percy or Ron, but having Ginny better is helping. We had grown apart over the years but we are now closer than before. I owe you both an apology. I was becoming obsessed with the idea of Ginny marrying you Harry, obsessed to the point of that I had considered using a love potion on the pair of you. I dismissed it as wrong, but I feel ashamed that I even considered it. Ginny told me about your conversation with her and the consequences of your immortality. I was shocked at first, but I am now happy for you both. Please forgive me."

"Molly, there is nothing to forgive, you only wanted the best for your daughter. You didn't use the potion and had already dismissed the idea. We both love you and your family and want you in our lives for as long as possible. "

With a low cry, the Weasley matriarch rushed to the pair and embraced them. "Thank you both. We or our descendants will be in your lives for as long as you allow us."

"Thank you Molly. How are other things?" Harry asked in an emotional voice.

Molly suddenly looked sombre. "The Burrow is gone." She announced. "Arthur had removed all of our furniture and belongings, but when he checked this morning, it had been razed to the ground. He doesn't know if Deatheaters did it or that thing did it, but our home is gone." She said with tears in her eyes.

"No it hasn't. Your home is more than bricks and mortar. It's the people, the love and your heart that makes the home. The physical home may be gone, but that can be rebuilt, and I promise you that when all this is over I will have your home rebuilt to whatever specification you want." Harry told the now crying woman.

"Thank you Harry, I needed to be told that. Now do you two want any bread, we have made quite a bit."

"I would love to Molly, but I have put this off long enough. I need to go speak to my parents." Hermione told her. "Coming Harry?"

"Off course, let's go face the music and my new in-laws!" he said with a pale complexion.

With an encouraging smile from both Molly and Ginny, the pair left and walked to the living room door. They both stopped at the door and took each other's hand. Steeling themselves they took a deep breath and opened the door.

"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US?" came the shout from Hermione's mother.

The pair entered the room and shut the door behind them. Looking at the tanned pair in front of them Hermione quietly said "Hello Mum, Dad."

"Don't you 'Hello' me young lady. What do you think you have been doing to us? We are both having a great time in Australia, thinking we were cafe owners in a small town near Brisbane. We were happy and in love with each other. We had friends and little cares in the world, when all of a sudden a few days ago we both pass out. When we wake up we can remember another life, we were not the Wilkins but the Grangers, we have a daughter who is a witch and we are bloody dentists living in sodding England. We can remember you doing something to us and then we don't remember anything other than the Wilkins. I liked the Wilkins, I liked Australia and been a cafe owner, I hated been a sodding dentist, all those smelly mouths and grumpy patients. And to top it all off Monica Wilkins just found out she was sodding pregnant. So I hope you have a good explanation for us, and who is this boy with you?" Hermione's mother had managed to get all that out with barely a breath, and Harry immediately knew where his wife got her ability to ask multiple questions from. Her father had said nothing so far, but was looking very pissed off and was glaring at Harry, and that he was holding his daughters hand.

With a deep sigh Hermione looked at both her parents startled by the news that her mother was expecting a child, and then back at Harry. "Well first things first, introductions. Harry, these are my parents, Emma and Dan Granger. Mum, Dad this is Harry Potter, my husband..."

"WHAT! You're married! Young lady you had better explain" Dan shouted at her, looking at Harry as if he wanted to kill him.

Hermione sat down, prompting the rest to do so. "Mum, Dad I apologise for removing your memories but I had to protect you both."

"You were protecting us? How does removing our memories and carting us off to the other side of the world protect us?" Emma asked still very annoyed.

"Mum, you remember me telling you about Voldemort and how he killed Harry's parents when we only one year old and how everyone thought that he was dead. Well what I didn't tell you is that he wasn't dead, even though everyone thought that he was. He survived sort off and three years ago he re-created his body. The Wizarding world is at war and at the moment the side for good is losing. Voldemort wants to kill all Magicals born to muggles and all half-bloods leaving only purebloods left. He wants to kill me and all like me, not because of anything I've done, but just because I exist. He then wants to rule the world, both magical and Muggle. He will stop at nothing to achieve this and only Harry can stop him."

"Why Harry, what's so special about him?" Dan asked glaring at the boy.

"There was a prophecy, only Harry can kill Voldemort, only one can live whilst the other dies. Harry has no choice."

"Then why remove our memories darling?" Emma asked, her tone slightly warming.

"Because Voldemort knows that I will be with Harry, I cannot leave him and I will help him with every breath I possess. Voldemort knows this and because of that fact it paints a large target on my back and that of everyone dear to me. You have no way of protecting yourself against him or his minions, so I had to get you away from the fight. You would have not gone willingly, and even if you did there are ways in which Magicals can read your mind. If they found out who you were they would have either killed you where you stood or even worse, used you to get to me or Harry."

"Why must you help Harry? If this is so dangerous, leave him "Emma said, seemingly oblivious that the boy of which she was speaking was stood right in front of her.

"Mum, I cannot leave Harry, nor will I. I love him with all my being and as I told you earlier, we are married – at least in the magical world. We made our magical vows to each other and the magic accepted them, and there more: - When we went to the Wizarding bank I found out that I have titles. My full name now is the Lady Hermione Jean Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter. Mum, you may not have magic yourself, but it is in our family and has been for generations. I have met my ultimate grandmother and she looks just like you. Dad, your family is related to the oldest magical family in the country, Merlin. You passed down the genes to me making me as powerful as I am. This is who I am, this is what I must do, and this is what you must accept if you love me."

There was a long silence as both parents considered her words. Emma had tears in her eyes and Dan was unsure on what he was supposed to be feeling.

"Tell me Princess, is this what you want?" Dan asked her

"Well do I want a blood thirst megalomaniac trying to kill me and all I hold dear in the world, not to mention my husband? Then the answer is no. Do I love Harry and intent to spend all eternity with him? Then the answer is yes. Was I forced into this? No of course not, we both knew that we loved each other and wanted to be with each other. In fact it was me who prompted the wedding vows, not Harry."

"You're a Lady?" Emma asked in awe

"Yes Mum and Harry is a Lord with a few more titles that I have. We are also stupidly, obscenely rich and if we chose would not have to work for a very long time before we spent it all. We are also very powerful, more so than any other magical...but we are not experienced and that is why we have not killed Voldemort yet, but we will."

"If you are so powerful, how come the memory spell failed?" Dan asked.

Hermione had hoped that they would not ask that question just yet, but as they did, and after she felt Harry squeeze her shoulder, she felt she could not refuse to answer the question.

"Well it failed because the spell caster was killed and died." She said in a quiet voice.

"What? That doesn't make sense, you cast the spell... I don't understand?" Emma said; confusion evident on her face.

"Mum, a few days ago, Harry and I were betrayed by what we thought was a friend of ours. It turned out that this so called friend was in fact a demon that was inhabiting Ron's body. He was trying to manipulate us into a world that would mean we would never be happy and he was planning on feeding on our unhappiness. When Harry and I got together, that all changed and the demon got mad. He burst in on us and killed us...we both died."

Both parents gaped at her and Harry, unconsciously backing away from them.

"Mum, Dad it's okay. We are both alive and not ghosts or anything like that." As she spoke she had moved across to her mother and had knelt in front of her, taking her hand in her own. "Feel my hand, look its warm, flesh and blood like you, I have a pulse like you. We both survived because some cosmic power needed us alive. We were not supposed to die that day, as we both had a job to do. We were both brought back but something had changed..."

"What?" Emma breathed, now really afraid.

"Mum, you know you said you wanted your daughter to live a long life when you heard that I was a witch. Well you sorta got your way. Both Harry and I are now immortal. We will never age, nor will we ever die, except for a few ways. We are destined to be together forever. Your little girl will live forever Mum, but I will always be your little girl." Hermione told her in a small voice, there were tears trailing down her cheek that her mother wiped away with a finger.

"Oh my Hermione, my little Hermione!" Emma cried as she embraced her now crying daughter. "What have they done to you?"

"Mum, it's okay. I will have Harry, and you will have generation of children that will know all about you and Dad."

By now Dan and knelt next to his daughter and the three of them were all holding each other. Harry's eyes stung a little as he watched the family scene playing out in front on him, and a small part of him was very jealous that he had no family to turn to. As he watched he silently let himself out and left the Grangers to their sorrow, shock and happiness. Now crying he blindly walked away until he found himself sat on the stairs in the main entrance hall. Unseen by him, Molly Weasley had found him and guessing the problem, sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulder.

"It's hard Harry, but I am here for you. I know I'm not your mother but for a second you could pretend that I was."

Harry looked up at her and with a low cry, the Boy who Lived - the Chosen one - The Immortal cried like a small child into a mothers breast, as Molly wrapped her arms around him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen – A brief respite**

The Lady Hermione Jean Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter suddenly looked up from the embrace she was currently in. Her mother and father had recently come back from Australia after the memory charm she had performed on them broke. They had been very annoyed with their only child (at the moment), and soon that annoyance moved to her new husband. However they had now reconciled as Hermione had explained why she had done what she had done and thus her current embrace. Something was wrong though, her husband was in emotional pain.

"What's the matter love?" Dan asked his daughter.

"Harry's in pain, he's upset. I must go to him." She stated.

"How do you know that love?" her mother asked her.

"Because we share a life essence, our souls are basically entwined and what he feels, I feel. Right now he is very sad, sad about hurting you both, sad about having no family of his own and most off all sad because you both rejected him!"The last statement was said with some anger at her parents.

"We rejected him? How?" Emma asked.

"Mum, you basically told me to leave him. How could you do that?"

"Well I'm sorry but your safety is off greater importance to us..." she would have continued but Hermione interrupted her. She told her parents a little of Harry's history, how he was treated by the Dursleys. She told them that when she hugged him for the first time; that it was the first ever hug he had ever received. She told them about his parents and the sacrifice they had both made for him and the Wizarding world. Lastly she told them about the encounters that they had both had with Voldemort and why they had to fight him. As she spoke both Emma and Dan grew more and more horrified and ashamed that they had dismissed Harry before learning the facts. Emma had tears running down her face and Dan was pale. When Hermione finally finished speaking, they both looked at each other with appalled expressions on their faces.

"Oh Hermione, I am so sorry. Harry sounds like a fantastic person and we both owe him an apology. Where is he?"

"He's sat outside on the stairs. Molly Weasley is with him." as she spoke she had stood and made her way to the door.

Harry was still sat with his head resting against Molly's ample chest. The tears had run their course and he had his eyes closed. Molly looked up as she heard the door open and saw Hermione moving towards them. With a smile she transferred her charge to his wife and stood to leave.

"Molly...thank you for been here for him. I know he really appreciated it." Hermione told the older woman.

Hermione now transferred her attention to Harry, who was worryingly quite.

"Harry? Harry are you okay? I could feel your distress." She asked him

Harry took a long while to answer her, he was trying to sort his thoughts out in his head, and he was a little embarrassed that he had broken down like he had. Finally he spoke.

"I'm fine Mione, it's just after your parents rejected me, I felt all the years of rejection bearing down on me and I needed to let it out. I feel better now. I will let you and your parents reconnect, and wait for you in the kitchen."

"Oh no you don't Mr Potter!" Emma stated as she watched the pair. Harry almost jumped to his feet when he heard Emma speak.

"Harry, I owe you an apology, a big apology. I was wrong to say what I did; you are the best thing that ever happened to our daughter. You brought her friendship when she had none, and now love, when she only had us. You are a fine young man, and I am honoured, very honoured to have you as a son-in-law."

Harry was amazed to hear the words coming from someone he thought had rejected him. He looked up at her and could see the sincerity in her voice. Dan was stood next to her with his arm around his wife, also looking rather contrite and ashamed of himself. Harry slowly disentangled himself from Hermione's hold and stood to face the older couple.

"Thank you Mrs Granger, that means a lot to me." He told her.

"Harry that will not do at all. It's Emma, now come here!" and she took him in a light embrace, before releasing him. Dan then stuck out his hand which Harry took.

"Welcome to the family, son!" he told him before briefly hugging him around the shoulders. Hermione was beaming as her parents finally accepted her husband.

"Shall we all go back to the lounge? We have a lot to speak about. And Mum, pregnant?"

As they walked back to the lounge, Hermione arm in arm with Harry, Emma laughed and blushed.

"Yeah, we found out a few weeks ago. I'm only four months and only just beginning to show. We weren't really trying but we are both very happy to be having a baby. After you were born, we did want another but with the dental practice just starting and then when you started to show your magic, even if at the time we didn't know what it was, we just decided not to try. When you removed our memories and we became then Wilkins, well things were different."

"Do you know what sex the baby is?" Hermione asked shyly.

"Yes, you are going to have a baby sister. I wonder if she will be a witch." Emma asked herself.

Hermione was delighted she was going to have a sister, even if the age difference was quite big. As she looked at her mother, she accessed some of her new Ravenclaw knowledge, and activated her new ability to see magical auras. Harry's was plain to see, a solid white, almost silver, second skin covering him. Her parents had auras as well, although they were much smaller and fainter. She guessed that even though they had no magic themselves; the genes they carried must be responsible for the auras. As she looked her mother's stomach was glowing a bright golden colour, it was small but very bright.

"Yes Mum, she will be magical, very powerful as well if I am reading this correctly."

"How? how do you know that?" Emma asked surprised, but pleased all the same.

"Well, as I told you, Harry and I are the heirs to the Founders of Hogwarts; we also have the knowledge of the Founders in our heads. I used some of that knowledge to allow me to see magical auras. Both Harry and I have a solid one, due to our immortality, but the baby has a golden one, meaning that she will be magical."

Dan had to ask at this point. "About this immortality thing, can you tell us more? I must admit to been a little confused and scared by it. Do you mean that you both will live forever?"

"Yes Dad, We cannot die, except by decapitation or the killing curse. Earlier today, Harry was killed by been burnt to death, his body was covered in burns and he was quite dead." The two Grangers were very shocked to hear this and had both looked at the young man sat calmly with their daughter.

"I felt him die, mum! It hurt like hell, but a few seconds later, his body healed and he was re-born, as good as new."

"My God! And neither of you will age?" Dan asked.

"Well I guess we may age until we reach our maturity and then we will stop."

"That's just amazing, but are you both aware of the downside, all your friends, family, children growing old and dying whilst you two carry on?"

"Yes Dad, we are aware of that, and if it was just me on my own, I'm not sure I could cope, but with Harry by my side, we will cope together. I guess it will be losing our children that will hurt the most, but that's not enough to stop us from wanting kids."

"That's good, I always wanted to be a grandmother, but not too soon you two, been a mother once more is enough for the moment."

"What are your plans now Mr and Mrs Granger?" Harry asked.

"Dan and Emma please, but were not sure. As I said earlier, I have grown to hate been a dentist over the years and I know that Dan feels the same."

"Mum, you cannot go home at the moment, it's not safe. We are attacked when we were at our house a few days ago, and I know that the Death Eaters are watching the house. That's why I had Dobby bring you here when you got home."

"Yes what was that little creature? He sure seemed a lively one." Dan asked, with a faint smile on his face.

"Dobby is my House Elf; he is bonded to me and his mate Winky is bonded to Mione. They are both very loyal and powerful in their own way. They will try to do anything for us."

"Bonded, as in slave?" Emma asked with an odd tone to her voice.

"No Mum, I used to think that, but it seems that House Elves need to be bonded to a witch or a wizard to stay alive. Winky was dying until she bonded with me. They are not slaves and we are paying them."

"Good, not sure I was keen on you two owning slaves."

"So mum, what are you going to do?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we still own the cafe in Aus, and we really liked our life out there. I think the Wilkins will be making a return to Australia I just wish it wasn't so far away from you two."

Harry looked over at Hermione and frowned. "Do you think..."

"Not sure..."

"It's a long ..."

"It sure is..."

"We know we have the power..."

"But can it be done?"

"What are you tow on about, and how come you keep talking like that?" Dan asked exasperated with the pair.

"Well Dan, Mione and I were just thinking if we could apparate to Australia with you both."

Dan gasped, "Hermione had told us about apperation, but I thought you could only apparate few hundred miles or so?" he asked.

"Well normally that's true, but Mione and I are much more powerful that most. I think we could do it. That means we can take you both home and keep in touch with you both. We can also come and visit you when the baby is born." Harry told them.

"Are you both sure?" Emma asked.

"Well sorta. The only problem we can come up with is that neither of us knows where in Australia you were living. We need to be able to see the location in our minds to be able to do this."

"Harry, what if Mum and Dad hold the image in their minds and we use that to apparate us there?" Hermione asked in an excited voice.

"That might work, Mione. When do you wish to try?"

"What about now?" Hermione said. "We can take them to Aus and then return to see to the rest. I would be happier with Mum and Dad safe in Australia. We can do the memory spell again..."

"OH NO! Going back to the cafe is one thing but we are not losing you both again. Not this time. Is there nothing else you can do to keep us and you safe?" Dan told them.

Hermione thought for a bit, pacing back and forth as she did so. Suddenly she looked up and smiled. She walked to her father and with a reassuring smile placed her hands on his head. She closed her eyes and concentrated, both father and daughter glowed for a brief second before she moved to her mother and repeated the procedure.

"What have you done now Hermione?" her mother asked.

"Well I have first taken the knowledge of the location of your home in Australia, and then I have shielded your minds from anyone trying to read them."

Everyone seemed pleased with Hermione's solution and quickly her parents had gathered up there few belongings. They had been so eager to get back to the UK that they had left nearly all of their other stuff back in Australia. Everyone linked hands ready for the trip. Harry and Hermione concentrated, Hermione held the image of their destination in her mind, and with a 'pop' they vanished.

Moments later they reappeared in a small but nice living room. It was early in the morning, and the sun was just coming over the horizon. The air was warm and the noise of the sea could be heard. Emma let go of the pair and opened the patio doors that led to a large patio area and garden.

"Welcome to Australia, and welcome to our home." Emma told them, pleased to be back in what she considered to be more her home than the UK was.

"Mum, it's lovely, but we cannot stay. We have work to do back home, but we will come by very soon, now that we know where you live. I want to see everything and have a meal at your cafe."

"Do you really have to go Pumpkin?" Dan asked.

"Pumpkin?" Harry mouthed to Hermione, a smile playing across his lips.

"Don't even think about it Potter!" Hermione warned before turning to her father. "Yes Dad, Harry and I have a great deal to do and now knowing you are both safe makes it a lot easier for me."

After a lot of embraces, kisses and some tears Harry and Hermione finally managed to apparate away; re-appearing back in the cottage. By now it was getting very late, and after sending a message to Griphook via Dobby asking for a meeting in the morning, the pair retired to bed.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Lord Voldemort was ecstatic, he was over the moon. In fact if could be said that he was happy, if he indeed knew what the alien emotion felt like. The reason for this good mood was he had finally finished questioning Snape about his run from Hogwarts. When Snape and the young Malfoy had arrived earlier the previous day, he had not spoken to either of them, but just placed them both under the Cruciatus curse. After all they had both failed him, so why not? It had taken Snape hours to recover from the torture, but he had finally been ready to speak. Voldemort had grown angry with the potion masters tale as he told his master of his failure at the school, but when Snape told him about Potter falling to his death from the Astronomy tower, that was the catalyst for the outpouring of emotion. As Snape described the sight of the crater with the broken body of his nemesis lying in the centre, Voldemort was so pleased that he even allowed Snape to leave with no further punishment. In fact when he leant that it was Draco who has cast the spell that flung the young Potter off the parapet he had magically restored the last of the Malfoy's tongue, allowing him to speak once more.

"It's done! Potter is dead, and I can rule the world as is my right." He said to himself, ignoring the pangs of worry regarding the recent demise of yet another of his Horcrux's. He knew that the remaining two were safe and out of reach of any of the dregs of Dumbledore's so called army of Light.

"Bella! Where are you?" he yelled

Bellatrix came in, now aware of her master's good mood. "Yes my lord?" she purred.

"Come in here and remove your clothes, I am in need of some entertainment" he said as he stood to disrobe.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry woke to the feeling of his beloved wife naked body resting on his. Despite their tiredness they had made passionate love the night before. It had only been the one time but, nevertheless it had been a fantastic experience. Never before had he felt such contentment as he had, when they both released there climaxes at the same time. He didn't think it was possible to love another as much as he loved Hermione. As he lay there he could sense his wife begin to waken. As she moved her hand moved south and grasped his morning wood. With a content sigh, Hermione began to move her hand up and down as she felt Harry's hand move to her moist core. As he began his ministrations she began to groan loudly as he also kissed her neck and jaw line. Before long they both climaxed, and with a quick Scourgify both were clean again.

"Morning love!" Hermione smiled at him.

"Morning...Pumpkin!" Harry said with a laugh.

"Oi! you cheeky..." she began as Harry moved to tickle her. "Harry, let go...Oi Potter!" she called as Harry sprung up and ran to the bathroom, naked. She leapt up and followed him conjuring a glass of cold water as she did.

"MIONE!" came the shout as she flung it at her husband, before they both entered the shower together.

It was a clean Harry and Hermione that finally made it down to breakfast. Molly and Ginny were cooking breakfast and Arthur and the twins were sat chatting.

"Morning you two, breakfast?" Molly asked them.

"Yes please." Harry replied for the two of them.

"Where are your parents Hermione, I would of thought they would have been up by now." She asked.

"Well, they may be but they will be going to bed soon. We took them back to Australia last night, as they wanted to live there."Hermione told her.

"What? How did you get them back, it's a long way to Australia" Molly said, Arthur also now paying attention to the conversation.

"We apparated them both, they were happy there and wanted to stay. This was we can visit them whenever we wish."

"You apparated them all the way around the world? That's impossible, no one can do that." Arthur stated.

"Er, not for us, we might if mentioned it but we a touch more powerful than we were before." Harry said

"How much of a touch?" Fred asked

"A lot more, if you must know; we both carry the knowledge of the four Founders as well as some of Merlin's." Harry said faintly.

"Wow, you are related to the Founders?" George asked.

"Yes, Harry to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff and me by Ravenclaw. We are both also related to Merlin." Hermione told him.

"What are your full names?" Arthur asked

"Harry is Lord Harry James Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Slytherin-Emrys-Potter and I am the Lady Hermione Jean Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter." She said proudly.

"Slytherin? You didn't mention Harry been related to Slytherin." Fred said, looking a little worried.

"I'm not. But since I have beaten old Voldyshorts more than three times I am now the heir of Slytherin by conquest." Harry told him.

"Oh my! Does that mean you both own Hogwarts?" Molly asked as she put the names together.

"No, they don't, you cannot own a living thing, they are the guardians of the castle and the Lady Hogwarts thinks of them as her parents." came a new voice form the doorway.

"Luna! How are you this morning" Harry shouted at her, pleased to see her up and about.

"Well, thank you Harry. I'm a little confused as to how I got here though." came the reply.

"Well yesterday was a long day and at the end you made a prediction. You then fainted and we brought you back here." Harry told her.

"Oh, was it a good prediction?" Luna asked him.

"Well it told us where to go next, so I guess so. That reminds me...Dobby!" he shouted

With a pop with the faithful creature arrived, practically bouncing around the room. "Master calls Dobby, what can Dobby do for Master Harry?" he asked

"Dobby, please can we drop the Master bit, it's just Harry."

"Master wants Dobby to call Master 'Harry'? Can Dobby do that?" Dobby asked himself.

"Yes Dobby you can, and please stop bouncing around, you're making me dizzy." Harry said with a smile. "Dobby, what did Griphook say?"

"Griphook says to meet him this morning at eleven, they are looking forward to your visit Ma...Harry, sir" Dobby told him.

"Good, can you also go to see Professor McGonagall? We need to go to visit this afternoon, I promised that I would go and speak to Charlotte and Mione needs to speak to Helena."

"Dobby will go Harry Sir!" and with a pop he was gone.

"Well, at least he's dropped the 'Master' bit love." Hermione said with a smile. Everyone was smiling as Luna took her place and started to eat her breakfast. As they all ate, Xeno made an appearance and was given breakfast. Luna was happy to see her father, and for a while the two talked about animals and creatures that no one else had heard off.

As they ate, there was another 'pop' as Winky arrived. However she wasn't alone; in her arms she was carrying a large ginger ball of fur that was hissing and spitting.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione shouted. As soon as the half Kneazle heard his mistress voice, he shot out of the arms of Winky and repositioned himself on Hermione's lap. She began to pet him and soon the room was filled with the loud sound of purring.

"Crooks, where have you been? You were supposed to stay at Hogwarts until I could come back." She told the cat.

"I is finding the cat wandering around the forest outside the cottage. He was looking for you, but couldn't get past the wards Ma'am" Winky told her.

"Thank you Winky. Did lovely little Crooks miss his mistress then?" she asked the cat in a silly voice. Crookshanks continued to purr, even if he did look a little affronted by the tone Hermione was taking. After a while he jumped down, walked past Harry, rubbing himself against his legs as he did and then looked at Winky with an expectant look.

"Ok cat, come on then, let's find you some food" Winky stated and the two wandered off to the kitchen. Breakfast continued and then everyone left the dining room to get ready for the day. Harry and Hermione were going to apparate to Diagon Alley, near to the bank. Luna stated that she wished to come with them. The Weasleys were going to Hogwarts to see Professor McGonagall about re-enrolling Ginny for the remainder of the years now that the school was safer than before.

Soon Harry and Hermione were stood in the main entrance hall waiting for Luna to get ready.

"Where is she? It's nearly eleven already." Harry grumbled.

"Stop moaning, one thing you will have to learn is that it takes women a little longer to get ready than you blokes. You're lucky that I am a morning person or else you would be waiting for two of us." As she spoke they saw Luna coming down the stairs. She was wearing a nice dress under her robes, and her hair was in a French plat, running down her back.

"Sorry you two, but Dad needed me to chase away some Wrackspurts that were infesting his room." She said with a small smile.

"Wrackspurts? Never mind, come on lets go otherwise we will be late, and keeping Goblins waiting is not a good idea." Harry said, extending his hand for Luna. She took it and Hermione took the other one, and they blinked away.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Deep in the part of Romania better known as Transylvania the creature known as Ron was creeping through the forests. It was early morning and Ron was hungry. His last meal was a couple of walkers he had chanced across as he flew through the forests a few days ago. He's landed the broomstick and captured the pair. Feeding on the woman first he had repeated the actions that had now become his trademark. Raping her whilst her partner watched and then slitting her throat. This time however he had also cut open her belly and ripped out her innards before the light left her eyes. Laughing he then killed the man, but he was still hungry. As he crept through the dense forest he sent out his mind, looking for prey but all he could sense back was the dead creatures that inhabited this part of the forest. Never mind, when he found the lair he would kill his brethren and take the cup. Then he could control Voldemort and force him to help conquer the world for him.

As he crept, he was unaware that he was been watched by some of the creatures. As soon as he was spotted entering their territory, word was sent to the Lord and Lady that company was coming.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

With an almost silent 'pop' the trio arrived in a darkened corner of Diagon Alley. Once more the sense of fear and anxiety permeated the air, and the trio quickly walked to the white steps leading to the bank, heads bowed and hoods up. As they mounted the steps, Harry briefly raised his head and moved the hood back, exposing his face. The guards snapped to attention and saluted.

"Lord Potter, Griphook told us to expect you." One said politely, well as polite as a Goblin ever is. The other opened the door and the trio rushed into the bank. As soon as they were inside they removed there hoods and looked around. Silverfang was rushing towards them.

"Lord Potter, Lady Potter, Miss Lovegood, my father is expecting you; If you would like to follow me." He asked them. He led them to an ornate looking office that contained a desk and three chairs. On the desk was a tray of drinks and Griphook was sat at the other side.

"Harry! Come in, good to see you. You too Hermione. Miss Lovegood, I'm not sure if we have met. Senior accountant Griphook at your service. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Luna greeted the Goblin and they all took their seats. Griphook took out a large folder of paper and looked at the trio.

"Now, Harry. We have located where the witch Bellatrix took the cup. It's not good news I'm afraid." He said with a grimace.

"Why, where did she take it?" Harry asked in a worried voice.

"Well she took it to a forest in central Romania and left it there with some allies of Riddle." Griphook told them.

"That doesn't sound so bad, why the worried look Griphook?"

"Well, the area of Romania that she took it too used to be called Transylvania. But the main problem is who Lestrange left it with. She left it with two creatures that people call the Lord and Lady and that is the problem. You see the Lord and Lady are Vampires, but not just any vampires, they are the King and Queen of all the vampires." He said in a gloomy voice.

"Shit!" Harry said.

"Yes quite, it won't be an easy job to retrieve the item from them."

"Okay, we will have to go and get it, but I think this will need some planning first. Was there anything else Griphook?" Harry asked

At this Griphook showed his teeth, a sure sign to tell that a Goblin is smiling. "Well yes, and this is slightly better news. We heard of the death of the wand-smith Ollivander. His replacement has already been to see us, a distant nephew, and had claimed his inheritance from us. However Ollivander updated his will recently, using magic whilst staying at your cottage. Both you and Lady Potter were mentioned. He left you Lady Hermione, the wand that rested on the purple cushion in the shop front. It has been there for centuries and everyone thought it was a fake, but we have had it tested. It turns out that it was the wand of your ancestor, Rowena Ravenclaw." As he spoke he pulled out an old looking wand and handed it to Hermione. As soon as she touched the wand, sparks flew out of the end and both she and the wand glowed briefly.

"Wow, that's a very powerful wand, and it recognises me as its true owner. This is an amazing gift, I will treasure it." She said.

"And for you Harry, he left a staff. We do not know how he came into its possession but it seems genuine." He pulled out a gnarled looking staff with a large crystal on one end. As soon as Harry took it he gasped and his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell back into the chair and began to shake. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and they were glowing a golden colour before they faded to their normal green.

"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked in a concerned voice.

"Yes, that was a bit of a rush. I not sure if I believe it, but this staff belonged to none other than Merlin. It wants you to touch it Mione."

With a cautious look at Harry she tentatively reached across and touched her ancestor's staff. Once more her eyes glowed gold and her hair whipped around in an invisible wind. After a few seconds the wind faded and her eyes returned to their normal colour. She looked at Harry in awe.

# _Harry, that was amazing!#_

 _#I know Mione, and have you noticed, we are talking without moving our lips. In fact I think we are talking in our heads.#_

 _#Oh sweet Merlin, how is this possible?#_

 _#Well I'm not certain, but I think it's the staff that did it.#_

Luna was looking at the pair with a grin on her face. This was just as she had predicted, the pair had become even closer and the time was approaching for her fate.

With a few final words the trio left the bank and quickly apparated to the gates of Hogwarts.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen – Making mad plans**

Luna looked around at the gates of the old castle and sighed.

"What's the matter Luna?" Harry asked the young girl.

"Nothing really Harry, it's just a long walk and I'm still tired from yesterday" she moaned eyeing the long pathway up to the castle.

Harry laughed and with a nod to Hermione, took hold of her hand. Luna looked up in surprise and then at Hermione who had taken Harry's other hand. They all started walking up to the castle when the world blurred around them, and they were all stood in front of the two large wooden main doors of the school.

"That better Luna?" Harry asked with an amused smile.

"What? How? That not possible, you cannot apparate in Hogwarts, everyone know that." Luna said in disbelief.

"Hogwarts Heirs remember, and who said we apparated? But we can only do that at Hogwarts." Harry told her.

"Wow, what did we do then?" Luna asked.

"Not sure what it's called, but since our little incident in the tent, I seem to know how to do it. Anyway it beats walking. Come on let's get to Professor McGonagall's office." And he opened the main door and started to walk to the office. As it was still early in the day, the castle was quite with most of the students in class. The odd student was walking the corridors and spotted the trio as they walked hand in hand; most just nodded to Harry, but a few said 'Hello' as they walked past. Harry started to feel a sense of unease coming from his wife as they were noticed, so with a wave of his hand he conjured Hogwarts robes for them all. Instead of the Gryffindor image on his and Hermione's and the Ravenclaw's on Luna's they all wore the image of the four founders, with a silver sword shining in the centre; the image of Excalibur and the sign for house of Emrys.

"Much better!" Hermione muttered, admiring the delicate fabric that her husband had conjured. "It feels like silk" she said.

"Acromantula silk love, nothing but the best for you. And the conjuring is permanent."

"Wow, thanks Harry, these are a lot better than my other robes, but why the new image on mine?" Luna asked.

"Because you are with us now, and we are not really returning to school yet." Harry told her.

Soon the trio had made their way to the entrance to the headmistress's office. As soon as they arrived the gargoyle moved out of the way with a salute.

"She is up there, but not alone sir. The young girl you saved and her parents are with her."

"Thank you Cecil." Harry replied and they all ascended up the spiral staircase to the main office. Getting to the top, Harry politely knocked on the door and after a muffled "come in" they entered the office. Seated were Mr and Mrs Perkins with young Charlotte sat in-between them, Professor McGonagall was standing, serving tea.

"Harry, Hermione and Luna! What a pleasant surprise; what brings you three here?" She asked the trio. Before any of the trio could answer Charlotte jumped up shouting "Harry!" and ran over and flung herself at him. "Oh Harry, its soooo good to see you." She said as she tried to cuddle up to him.

"Charlotte! Let that young man go." Her mother told her. "I'm sorry Mr Potter, but it seems our daughter has a bad case of hero worship." She told him.

Harry had meanwhile managed to move the young girl so she was now stood next to him. "It's okay Mrs Perkins. It is good to see her looking so well."

The headmistress had just conjured a new large sofa for the three to sit on. Harry and Hermione were about to sit down when the room was invaded by another presence.

"MUMMY! DADDY!" A small young looking blonde haired girl appeared out of thin air and raced to the pair, flinging herself at the couple. As she did she also held Charlotte. "SIS!" the young blonde shouted creating a four-way hug.

Finally Harry managed to disentangle himself from the scrum of arms. "Lady Hogwarts! What happened to you?" he asked the blonde.

With a smile the young girl stood and slowly morphed into the older, serene looking woman that they had meet in the ward room. "Is this better? Since you two are my parents I figured that you would like the greeting of a small child. Was I in error?" she asked in a singsong voice, that seemed to have many facets all overlaying each other.

"No off course not, you just surprised up that's all." Hermione told her. Finally the trio managed to sit. Charlotte immediately sat in Harry's lap, sticking her tongue out at her mother as she did. Lady Hogwarts sat on Hermione's lap, having reverted to the small blonde child and Luna was sat in the middle. All in all the sofa was looking rather full.

"Well yes, Lady Hogwarts, I thought you said you would not appear to me anymore, only to Harry, Hermione and Luna?" the Headmistress asked the young girl.

"I lied!" came the child-like reply. "Well okay I didn't lie, but since I gained a new sister and new parents I have found myself more 'alive' than I have in centuries. So here I am."

The two parents of Charlotte looked around in confusion. Finally Mr Perkins spoke.

"Can someone tell me what is going on, why is that girl calling our 'Lotte her sister?" he asked somewhat annoyed.

"Mr Perkins..." the headmistress began.

"Call me Frank please." He interrupted.

"...certainly, Frank, I know this is all very confusing for you; Merlin knows it is for me; The young girl you can see sat on Mrs Potter's lap in not in fact human, but as far as I know she is a representation of the castle itself. You see after centuries of magical children passing through the school, their magic became imbued into the very fabric of the castle itself, so much so that the castle became alive, sentient and aware. Lady Hogwarts is the magical representation of that magic. She is the 'child of the castle' as it were. Now it appears that Lord and Lady Potter are the direct descendants of the original builders of this castle and as such are considered to be the Heirs of Hogwarts, so the Lady Hogwarts..."

"Call me Cassiopeia or Cassie for short..."

"...Thank you, Cassie considers them to be her 'parents'. Now as it seems that your daughter is now forever linked to the castle, Cassie has 'adopted' her as her new sister."

Cassie was nodding and smiling as Minerva spoke. "And I will look after her forever, we have been speaking since her re-birth and we know a lot about each other now. She can help me to become more real and I will help her adjust to her new life here. She is forever linked to me now, but she will never be lonely. I have created some new rooms for her to live in and also allowed for the creation of a permanent portal between her quarters and your house. However Daddy...sorry Harry will have to create the actual portal. You will be able to visit anytime out of term time until 'Lottie graduates. After then you will be able to visit her quarters anytime you wish."

Both Charlotte and Cassie looked up at Harry, who with a small smile waved his hand and muttered some arcane words. With a small flash he glowed red and smiled.

"The portal is now created as you requested daughter." Cassie grinned up at him and then shouted

" Calla!" with a pop a young house elf appeared.

"You is calling Lady Hogwarts?" she asked the young blonde.

"Yes, this is Charlotte Perkins or 'Lottie if you like. She is magically bound to the castle for all eternity. Can you and your kin look after her for me?"

"Yes My Lady, it would be an honour to look after her." Calla replied bowing to the young girl before walking over to Charlotte who was still sat in Harry's lap.

"My Mistress, I is Calla. Will you consent to bond with me as your Elf?" she asked in a formal voice.

Charlotte looked at Harry first and upon seeing him smile and nod at her she turned to the small creature stood in front of her. She slid off Harry's knee and bent down in front of Calla.

"Calla, I will bond with you, but not as a servant or slave, but as a friend and companion of that is allowed."

Calla's eyes widened and tears sprung in her big eyes. "Yes, my friend it is allowed." Magical light embraced the pair and when it faded Calla was a little taller and her face had taken on a more human look. Gone were the large eyes and were replaced by much smaller slitted cat like eyes, a deep purple colour. She had long purple tinted hair and was wearing a small dress.

"Thank you my friend, we will talk later. Is there anything I can do for you at the moment?"

"Thank you Calla, if you don't mind could you move my things from my dorm to my new room." Looking up at Cassie she asked.

"Off course my friend!" and with a 'pop' Calla vanished.

"Are my new rooms near the Hufflepuff common room, I still would like to be with my friends if possible?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes my dear, there is a new opening behind one of the tapestries that only you and anyone you allow can see and open." Cassie replied.

"Thank you. Err Headmistress, how are we going to let the school know about me? No one has seen me since I came back, and I know that you told the school I was dead. Won't it be a bit of a shock for them?"

"Yes I guess it will be. We can present you at the evening meal if you wish. I will make some announcement and ask that you be allowed to reintegrate with the school."

"Err okay. Harry will you come with me when we do this please. It would help me enormously if you would be there." She replied with a blush

"Now Charlotte, you haven't got designs on my husband have you?" Hermione asked with a slight grin.

Charlotte blushed from head to toe and looked up at the older witch in shock. "No Lady Potter, of course not...but you do have to admit, he is a bit a looker" she said with a rare grin.

"CHARLOTTE PERKINS!" her mother shouted, causing everyone to laugh.

"It's okay Charlotte, but just remember, he is mine." Hermione told her, smiling but with some steel in her voice. Charlotte gulped and nodded, before moving back to her parents.

Mrs Perkins looked at the young blonde girl sat in Hermione's lap.

"May I ask a question Lady Hogwarts?"

"Off course, Sarah."

"Err how did you know my name?" Sarah asked.

"Easy, 'Lottie told me, just now" Cassie replied.

"How, I never heard her speak?" her mother asked.

"Oh, she told me in her mind. I told you we are linked."

"That's amazing. Anyway, earlier you mentioned that our 'Lottie was going to be linked with the castle for all eternity. Surely you mean until she gets old and ... er passes over."

Lady Hogwarts smiled and winked at Harry before turning back to the parents. "Well, that's not so true. When Harry brought her back, he slightly overpowered the spell. It was his first time an all, so that's not so surprising. Thing is, both he and the Lady Potter are immortal, and they passed a little of that over to Charlotte. Whilst she is not truly immortal, she will live a very long time, and then when she finally does pass over, her spirit will become one with the castles. In a way she will live forever with me."

"How long will I live?" Charlotte asked in an awed voice.

"Well baring accident, many centuries, maybe more. You will age very slowly once you reach your maturity."

"But I will have to live here...forever?"

"Well yes, but you will be able to leave for a few hours, maybe a day at the most."

"Sorry Charlotte, but it was the best I could do." Harry told the young girl.

"Harry, after spending a few days as a ghost, this is a small price to pay. I know I will always have a home and I will always be loved. I am alive and that is a gift that I will not squander."

"You are a brave girl and you will turn into a wise witch. The world is better with you in it." Hermione told her.

"Thank you, do you all mind if I take Mum and Dad to my new quarters?" she asked.

"No that will be fine." The headmistress told her.

"Come on 'Lottie, I will show you the way." Cassie told her. "Will you two please not leave until I can speak to you? There is much to discuss." she asked Harry and Hermione. They both nodded and with a final wave, the Perkins left with the child of the castle.

"Well, now it's just the four of us, what can Hogwarts help you three with?" Professor McGonagall asked the trio.

Harry looked at his ex Headmistress and sighed. "Minerva, we have managed to find another Horcrux but we will need yours and Albus's help if we are to safely retrieve the item."

Minerva looked over at the portrait of the ex-Headmaster. Since Snape had tortured it, Albus had not spoken to her. He just sat in his chair, shaking slightly with a vacant expression on his face. She wasn't sure what was matter with the portrait but it saddened her to see 'him' in such a state.

"Harry, I think Severus did something to the portrait of Albus. He has not spoken not given any indication that he is still in there. Can I ask what and where this Horcrux is located?"

"Well, the Horcrux is Helga Hufflepuff's old cup, but it is its location that's a problem. You see Bellatrix Lestrange kept it in her Gringotts vault, but it seems that Voldemort asked her to move it. The Goblins placed a tracking charm on both the cup and Bellatrix when she took the cup away. She took it to the Lord and Lady for safekeeping in a forest in Transylvania. She took it to the castle there, Castle Dracule."

"Oh shit!" Minerva swore. "The Lord and Lady are monsters, how are you going to get the cup from them?"

"That's why we are here. We need to use the library to see if we can find anything to help us." Hermione spoke up.

"Hermione, you need not even ask. As Heirs to the Founders, even though you don't own Lady Hogwarts herself, you DO own the school building and contents. I looked it up in the charter for you. Any book in the library is yours to peruse."

"Thank you Minerva, we sorta knew that we owned to contents, but you are still headmistress and we owe you the curtsey of asking for your permission." Hermione replied with a smile.

"Well thank you, but you have full access to the library. Is there anything else we can help you with?"

"Well, yes I need to go to Rowena's private room, The Eagles Nest. I need to speak to my ancestor and something is telling me we will find her there." Hermione replied.

"You know where it is?...of course you do Lady Ravenclaw." Minerva asked before answering her own question with a smile.

"Which do you want to do first love?" Harry asked her.

"I think the Nest; we may find some books there that may help us as well considering Rowena's love of learning."

"Ok, no time like the present. Coming Luna? Minerva?" Harry said with a grin.

Luna nodded but Professor McGonagall looked sad as she shook her head. "Sorry you three but I have got a class in five minutes. Even though I am now the Headmistress, I still take the Transfiguration class as we have not been able to hire anyone else. We are also struggling with a Defence teacher as the Carrows are indisposed...or dead" she said the last with a grin.

"Well I would suggest Remus, but what with Tonks about to give birth any moment, I'm not sure he would accept. What about Bill Weasley. He's not working at the moment." Harry mused.

"Hmm, good idea. I'll send an owl to him asking him if he could help." The Headmistress replied. Just as they were about to leave, Albus's portrait began to glow, and the slumbering figure stopped twitching and opened his eyes.

"Harry, Hermione may I have word?" he asked. "Minerva and Miss Lovegood, you may stay too."

"Albus, but how?" Minerva asked.

Harry looked closely at the portrait, his eyes narrowed before he grinned. "Ma'am, I don't think that that is the Headmaster's portrait speaking, is it Sir?" he turned to the painting.

Albus grinned and suddenly glowed, the figure stepped away from the wall, his legs appearing from behind the stonework, leaving the twitching portrait behind. The glowing figure moved to the centre of the room and smiled broadly at Harry.

"Well, well. Fancy you figuring it out my boy." He grinned as he spoke, the figure losing his 'Albus' look and taking on an ageless look about him. His beard was short, but white, and his face kind. His eyes glowed gold and he wore a blue cloak.

"Well, I guess I must be addressing the entity responsible for mine and 'Mione's immortality."

"Yes, my son you are. I'm sorry for placing the burden on you both, but it was the only way to bring you both back."

"Well, yes. I'm not sure if we can thank you yet, but I am grateful that I can be with my beloved 'Mione. What do we call you sir?" Harry asked.

"I have had many names over the eons, with Albus Dumbledore been my most recent; but my favourite over the years has been Merlin." He replied with a smile.

Both Harry and Hermione gasped. "Merlin, as in Emrys? That means we are related to you?" Hermione asked in a stunned voice.

Merlin smiled and nodded. "When I took human form that time, I didn't expect to fall in love and have children, but I did. I had one daughter and one son. Harry you are related to my daughter and Hermione you are related to my son. As the two lines diverged both sides grew apart, but you two have reunited them. You both get your enormous power for me in some part."

"Wow, that's just...amazing. How come you are here?" Hermione asked.

Merlin laughed and shook his head. "I wasn't supposed to be, but the Gods of Time have allowed me one brief moment to speak to you. I need to tell you that Voldemort is not the biggest threat, not now. You both need to kill him first, but the creature that you both know as Ron is a threat to the whole of creation if he gets hold of the power he craves. You need to stop him before it is too late. To do so, you will need to use the power of the Soul Goddess. Only with her help can the world survive."

Harry laughed and replied. "Well I see where Albus got his annoying habit of been cryptic from. Could you explain that somewhat?"

Merlin smiled and shook his head once more. "I'm sorry Harry, that's all I can say to you. My time is growing short, but I will be watching you two over the coming eons. When the time is right, you will both be given the greatest gift. Before I go however, I need to speak to Miss Lovegood alone for a few seconds."

The pair looked over at Luna, who had a serene look on her face. "It will be okay you two I'll meet you at the bottom of the stairs." She told them. With a final smile Harry and Hermione left with the headmistress.

The Creature of light shifted into his true appearance. "My child, are you ready for the sacrifices you must make?"

"Yes father, I am." Luna replied.

"Good then we need to talk..."

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry and Hermione had only been at the bottom of the stairs a few moments, before Luna rejoined them. She was smiling as she descended the stairs, and a very serene aura seemed to cover her.

"Well, what was that about then?" Harry asked.

"Sorry Harry, but I cannot tell you except that I was receiving some instructions. Now shall we go to the Nest? I am looking forward to seeing it."

"Er ok. It's this way." Harry replied, and he began to lead the trio to a remote section of the castle. They ascended one of the mostly unused turrets in the south tower and soon they reached the very top of the turret. Here was an empty small room with a small fireplace set in the wall. Tiny windows were scattered on the walls, all looking out around the turret. There was obviously no more room for anything else. Luna looked curiously at Harry who had moved to the fireplace. Carved into the stone fire place on the right hand side was a tiny Eagle in flight, its wings extended. It was a beautiful piece of carving, and if you looked closely enough you could even see the individual feathers on the bird. Harry motioned for Hermione to come forward.

"Mione, if you would do the honours." He asked. Hermione moved towards the fireplace and placed her hand over the carved Eagle. After a moment she removed the hand and the Eagle had gone. Suddenly there was a loud cry of a bird and as they all looked outside, the Eagle could be seen flying around the tower. It flew faster and faster around the small tower until all that could be seen was a blur. Suddenly a set of ladders magically appeared in the centre of the room, and a hatch in the ceiling, much like the one used in the Divination class. Harry smiled and climbed the ladder, throwing open the trap door, and then climbing into the new room that had appeared on top of the top floor of the turret. Impossibly the new room was much bigger than the space the turret would allow, almost three times the size of the room below. A small desk was sat in one corner but most of the room was taken up by large bookcases full of books. Hermione was practically drooling at the sight of all the books, and had totally ignored the ghostly shape of Helena sat on one of the comfy looking sofa's sat in the centre of the room.

"Welcome to my mother's rooms. Hermione...HERMIONE!" she repeated.

"What?...oh hello Helena." Hermione replied, startled out of her stupor.

"Well yes, anyway, Hermione all these books are yours...Oh she's gone again. Mother used to do that when faced with new learning, Harry would you mind."

With a laugh, Harry took hold of his dribbling wife and soundly kissed her. Her eye lids fluttered and finally focused on Harry. As he released her he looked lovingly at her. "Better now love?" he asked.

"Sorry yes, but when I was told all these were mine, I sort of lost it a little." She apologised, desperately trying not to look at the shelves containing her new books. Helena actually gave a laugh as the young woman apologized.

"No matter Hermione, It's good to see my mother's books in good hands. All I can tell you about their content is that what you currently seek will best be found in the main library. Mother's books will contain very little about that what is Dark. Now come and sit with me my dear."

Hermione slowly sat next to the ghost of her great-great plus a lot of more great's grandmother. They spoke for a long time about both of their lives, about Helena's sad brief life and about Hermione's home and school life. Both learnt a lot about each other as well as themselves. As they came to the end of their talk, the room glowed and the Eagle that was still flying around outside, flew in through one of the windows. The Eagle landed on the floor in the centre of the room and stood for a while, before blurring into a raven haired beautiful woman. She looked around thirty years of age and had flawless skin with chocolate brown eyes. She smiled at the people in to room, who looked at her startled. It was Helena who spoke first. "Mother!"

At this everyone was surprised, and all stood. "Lady Ravenclaw, it is an honour." Harry eventually said.

"Thank you young Lord Potter, I see that my friend Godric has his name in good hands. And the new Lady Ravenclaw, it is good to see you my ultimate grand-daughter." She said taking Hermione's hand, who was surprised that she felt solid and warm. With a laugh Rowena looked at her descendant.

"Yes, I am real, but I only have a short time here. I came to speak to both you and the Lord Ravenclaw, yes Harry; you are also the Lord Ravenclaw due to your marriage, as Hermione is Lady Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin due to your union. I have come to ask a boon of you both."

Harry moved over to his wife and took her hand before replying to the impossible woman stood in front of them both.

"Anything my Lady."

"I need you to both forgive me, for only with the forgiveness of the living can my daughter be reunited with me in the next world. I wronged her in life, and drove her away from me. I was stupid and blind to her needs and desires and this drove her away. I tried to get the Baron to bring her back to me, and the child was the result. I was so cross with them both that I cursed them to a life of emptiness and loneliness, which resulted in Helena running away. I sent the Baron after her but this resulted in them both been killed. People blame the Baron but it was my hand that cursed him and for this I beg your forgiveness." As she spoke the Bloody Baron had appeared in the room.

"Rowena? But how?" he asked in his gravelly voice. Helena had moved away from him, hissing under her breath as she did.

"Calm yourself child. Even though you don't remember, you loved Godwin greatly. Hermione I need your forgiveness to allow the curse to end."

Hermione had tears running down her face as she had listened to the story. "Off course I forgive you, you all have suffered for far too long and you all deserve peace." As she spoke a deep bell like sound was heard and an air of peace came over the room.

"Helena? Is that you my love?" Godwin asked, as if waking from a dream.

"Godwin, my Godwin. Oh how I missed you." Helena spoke as she floated over to the Baron. They both embraced and slowly the blood that had forever stained the Baron faded. After a while Helena looked up at her mother.

"Mother, I'm so sorry..."

"Darling, you have nothing to be sorry about. I wronged you both and I am glad that you are back together. We can all move on now if you are ready." They both nodded.

Rowena looked once more at Hermione. "Thank you, from all of us. Look after this man of yours; you will need each other in the eons to come."

The three began to glow and a bright light began to fill the room. Without a second look back, both Helena and Godwin walked to the light and vanished, their eyes locked on each other. Before she left Rowena looked over at Luna and her eyes widened as she saw something that no one else could see. She curtsied to Luna, and bowed her head. "My Lady!" was all she said before she also walked into the light and faded from view. The light dimmed and soon the room was empty once more except for the trio left behind.

"That was beautiful." Hermione sniffled, "but why did she curtsy to you Luna?"

"I have no idea Hermione" Luna lied to her friend. She felt bad for lying but these two couldn't know the truth yet, there was much to be done before all of that, and some of it was going to be very painful for all concerned.

"Well we need to get going. Hermione what are we going to do with your new books?" Harry asked.

Hermione positively glowed when Harry mentioned her new books and looked longingly at them. "Well we cannot leave them here. With Rowena gone, once we leave this room will cease to exist, so we will need to move them." She looked at the books and finally closed her eyes. With a wave of her hand the books all vanished. "I have sent them to our main vault in Gringotts. We can look at them later." She said with a touch of sadness in her voice.

"Don't worry love, when this is all over you can spend as long as you like reading them." Harry said with a smile.

With final look at the room they all descended down the ladder to the small room below. As Harry shut the trapdoor and climbed down the ladder both the ladder and door faded from view. The fireplace remained but the carved Eagle was gone.

"Come on then you two, we need to hit the library." Luna told them. They all walked down the spiral stairs to the main castle and made their way to the main library.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Ten minutes later the trio were safely sat in the library surrounded by books from both the general section of the library as well as books from the restricted section. At first Madam Pince wasn't going to allow them either access to the library itself as they were not students there nor the restricted section; once they had persuaded her to allow them in. It had taken Harry to admit to been the heir of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin as well as Ravenclaw through marriage to allow admission to the restricted section.

They spent the next hour or so looking through the books; looking for anything that would help them defeat the Vampires. Harry wasn't so much worried about been turned, he was sure his immortality would combat the curse; he was more worried about been overrun by numbers allowing the cup to be moved once more.

"Hey Harry try this bit." Hermione pointed to an obscure book that she had found. Harry read the section she was pointing to and a slow smile crept on his face. This was perfect, now how to get there and how to pull the plan off. After another hour of reading they left the library to talk to the Headmistress. As they approached the gargoyle, they could hear the headmistress approach from the other corridor and she wasn't alone. Bill and Fleur Weasley were with her talking in low voices.

"'Arry! 'ow are you?" Fleur asked as soon as she saw the trio. She walked over and hugged Harry, kissing both cheeks. This she repeated for Hermione and Luna. By this time Bill had also walked over and had taken Harry's hand, which he shook firmly.

"Harry, good to see you. Thank you for recommending me for this. It's good to be doing something useful for a while. Since the war began, Gringotts have suspended all my work, and I'm going nuts with nothing to do. It's good that Hogwarts can also take Fleur on as assistant Defence teacher."

"Bill, I'm glad you are here, you may be able to help us with a little problem." Harry told him. They all followed Minerva up to the office where she had tea waiting for them. As they sat Harry explained their problem.

"Bill we need to go to Castle Dracule, and quickly..."

"Castle Dracule, are you nuts? You will be killed for sure, that is where the Lord and Lady live and they are surrounded by hoards of Vampires. They say that the Lord and Lady were the first to be turned by Dracula himself and are all but invincible."

"Yes, we know that, but we have a plan. We just need to get there. Apperation is out of the question as we have never been there before and have no image to form in our heads. I did think about catching a muggle plane, but without passports that is impossible, even if we had them, we would still need to get there from Bucharest."

"Harry, if you must go then the best was is via floo from the Ministry. They will have a direct floo network to the Romanian ministry building and then you can floo to the village near the castle. It's called Bran and is only a few hours walk to the castle, but I really would advise against going. If you are not killed you will be turned."

"Bill, please don't worry, we have to go. If not then Voldemort will be undefeatable. Hermione and I will be safe."

"Harry, I will be going as well." Luna stated.

"Luna, you cannot go. Harry and I are protected, you are not. We cannot do that to you." Hermione told her in a worried voice.

"Then you will surely fail." Luna relied with a grave face.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"If I don't go with you, what needs to happen will not, and the world will fall to darkness. Trust me Hermione, I need to go."

Harry sighed and looked over at Hermione who was looking unhappy. "I guess it's the three of us then. Now all we need to do is to get into the ministry without been detected, and I don't think they will fall for Polyjuice a second time."

They all spoke for a while about how to get to the ministry safely before finally coming up with a plan. As the day was getting on Minerva asked them all to come with her to evening meal. After all they had to re-introduce Charlotte to the school and all were very hungry. Agreeing they all left the office and began the walk to Charlotte's quarters to take her to diner.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen – Off we go to the Ministry...again!**

"You ready love? Charlotte?" Harry asked as they stood next to the closed door to the main hall. Both Hermione and Charlotte nodded their heads, as Harry opened the door and they walked into the hall. Luna was already walking down the hall way with her usual disregard for anything unusual. They were assaulted by the roar of the whole school talking, chatting, laughing as they ate there evening meal. Initially they were ignored, that was until one of the Hufflepuff's saw Charlotte and screamed. Slowly the conversation died and one by one, every set of eyes turned to look at the trio as they slowly made their way down to the end of the room.

"Harry! There all looking at us!" Charlotte hissed.

"Yes, Charlotte, I can see that. Just smile and nod your head. That's what I always do."

They had now made their way to the front of the school. Luna skipped to the Ravenclaw table, sitting in a vacant spot and smiling at her fellow students. Harry and Hermione peeled off to the Gryffindor table, but not until they had hugged Charlotte as she made her way to the Hufflepuff table. The pupil at the 'Puffs table hastily made room for her, so much so that she was left alone with no one wanting to sit with her. Her fellow pupils were all eyeing her with fear and suspicion. Harry upon seeing this scowled and walked back to the young girl. Bending he kissed her gently on the cheek and in doing so presented his exposed neck for her. The rest of the school upon seeing that she didn't immediately bite him all sighed in relief.

"Honestly she's not a bloody Vampire, you lot!" he told the 'Puffs. They all managed to look ashamed and slowly moved back to their places. With a sad look at them Harry moved back to the Gryffindor table and sat back down with Hermione on one side and Neville on the other. Most of the Gryffindor's had noticed the new badge on their robes.

"Welcome back you two. How are you both doing?" Neville asked.

"Fine Nev, how are you?" Harry asked as he helped himself to a plate full of food.

"Well, what's with the new badge on your robes, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well as I'm descended from all of the Founders either through birth, Conquest or marriage, and as I technically own the castle; I thought I would design a new badge that has all the founders in it as well as the sword of Merlin."

There was a gasp of surprise from the students around him as he told them this.

"You mean that you really are descended from Merlin Harry?" Parvati asked.

"Yeah, Mione too." Harry replied shyly.

"Who is that girl you and Hermione escorted into the hall Harry?" Seamus asked.

"Oh, that's was Charlotte Perkins, a new friend of ours." Hermione replied for Harry.

"What!? But McGonagall told us she was dead." Seamus replied.

Hermione snorted. "PROFESSOR McGonagall was right at the time, but Harry and I brought her back to life."

"Whoaaa! That's impossible; no one can bring back the dead!" Dean shouted.

"Normally yes, but Charlotte didn't die a normal death, her soul was still in this realm. Harry and I just allowed her soul to go back where it belonged."

"Sweet Merlin, just how powerful are you two?" Neville asked in awe.

Harry just smiled and winked at him. The talk slowly turned to more mundane matters as the dinner progressed. Before the puddings arrived, the Headmistress stood and cleared her throat. The conversation died away as everyone turned to look at her.

"Good evening students. You will have all noticed that we are joined by four guests today. Lord and Lady Potter as well as Miss Lovegood. We also have a bit of a surprise. It seems that Lord and Lady Potter were able to rejoin young Miss Perkin's soul with her magically restored body and return Miss Perkins to us. I want you all to welcome Miss Perkins back to us and please treat her as you would any student. One of the side-effects of the magic used is that Miss Perkins is now magically connected to Hogwarts and she cannot leave the castle grounds for any extended period of time. For that reason she will live her life here and during the holidays her parents will be staying with her in her new apartment. She is not any sort of dark creature and other than having to be magically tied to the castle for her life, she is as normal as you or I. We all thank Lord and Lady Potter for their help in this matter."

She sat back down to applause aimed both at her, the Potters and towards Charlotte, who now had a large crowd around her, congratulating her. Harry and Hermione both blushed under the scrutiny but eventually the hall settled once more as pudding was delivered.

As the evening wore on, Harry turned to Hermione. "Where are we spending the night love? Here or home?"

"Home Harry, I cannot sleep without you now, and I'm certain that Dean, Nev and Seamus wouldn't not be happy sharing the dorm with me."

"Hermione, don't forget this is our castle, we now know all of its secrets. I'm sure we can use one of the married quarters."

"Oh yeah I forgot, still that would seem wrong. I want to go home; Harry take me home and make love to me." She whispered the last part in his ear, causing him to shudder with anticipation.

Harry stood and motioned to Luna, who walked over to the pair.

"Are we going now? Oh I see, you too want to be together for the night. That's good, I will come with you if you don't mind." She said in her spacey voice. Hermione looked shocked at her announcement, causing Luna to laugh.

"No Hermione, not in that way, I mean I love you both, but not in that way. What I meant was I will come with you to the cottage. We will need to set off early tomorrow for the Ministry.

"We?" Harry asked. "Luna, it's far too dangerous for you to come, we will be going into a nest of hornets and Vampires. Mione and I will survive but you may be hurt."

"Harry we have already been over this. If I don't go with you, you will fail and the world will fall to the darkness." She stated simply. Harry just gaped at her.

"But Luna..." he began

"Harry, I know what I know, and I have to come with you both or we will fail."

Harry didn't know what to say and turned to Hermione who just shrugged.

"Okay come on then." He told the blonde, taking hold of her hand. He caught the Headmistress's eye and nodded. She gave a little wave and Harry and Hermione vanished silently taking Luna with them.

"Good luck." Professor McGonagall whispered , her sentiments echoed by Charlotte and Lady Hogwarts at the same time.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry woke slowly, as the pale sunlight shone through the partly opened curtains of his and Hermione's room. It was still early, judging from the paleness of the light, but as he blinked his eyes he smiled as he remembered last night. Hermione was like a woman possessed and they had made love several time, all of them noisy and rough. He glanced down at the woman laid next to him and smiled even more. She was lying on her stomach, with her hair fanned around her head. Her skin was pale and perfect, with only the faintest of freckles sprinkled across her shoulder blades. The thin sheet was just covering her bottom and her shapely legs were bare. As he watched he could see her moving gently as she breathed, her breath gently tickling his body. As he watched her breath he couldn't quite believe that he was going to spend all of eternity with this goddess laid in front of him. He couldn't resist himself, he bent down and gently started to kiss her back and shoulders, moving slowly up to her neck. He heard her moan slightly as she began to wake and after a while she turned over.

"Morning you" she said gently. "What a lovely way to wake up." Harry bent down and slowly and gently kissed her lips and face. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her for a slow and long kiss. Her tongue gently teased his lips and he allowed her entrance and they lost themselves in each other for a while.

"Harry we need to move, we have a lot to do today." Hermione whispered to him

"Don't wanna, let's stay here." Harry whined, causing Hermione to laugh at his expression.

"Do you really mean that?" she whispered in his ear, causing him to shudder.

"Tempting but I suppose we have to save the world...again." he said. She smiled and suddenly slapped his bum. "Come on then lover-boy, let's get showered and dressed. World saving will have to wait until after breakfast."

With a shout of surprise he rolled off her falling to the floor with a loud bump. She giggled and quickly made her way to the bathroom, holding his hand and pulling him up with her. "You can wash my back!" she told him as the bathroom door shut cutting off further conversation.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

In a quite unused storeroom, deep in the bowels of the Ministry there was a sudden flame and three people and a phoenix flashed into existence. The young man was still grumbling to the bird as he arrived.

"Bloody phoenix. What use is the ability to flame if you cannot take us where we need to go."

" _Young one I told you last night. Like you I cannot flame to where I have never been before. That is just not possible. You will have to do this the hard way. Bye!"_ and with a flash the phoenix vanished.

"Sodding bird!"

"Harry, language!" Luna and Hermione told him together, laughing slightly.

"Sorry, but he's just so..."

"Infuriating? I think he does it to wind you up Harry." Hermione told him.

Harry muttered some more before straitening up and pulling out his new staff and allowing it to regain its normal size. Waving it over Hermione and Luna and then himself he then conjured a mirror for them to view there altered appearance. Luna was now a brunette with wavy brown hair and deep brown eyes. She was taller and had a slightly fuller figure as well as looking in her late twenties. Hermione was a platinum blonde with a short bob cut. Her eyes were a startling blue colour and she was tall and willowy, and looked in her mid thirties. Harry was tall, about six foot with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He looked about forty as there were traces of grey in his hair and he was sporting a neat beard.

"What do you all think? Will we pass muster?" he asked the girls. The both were still looking at their altered appearance. "Is it a safe charm, I mean can it be broken?" Hermione asked.

"No I used the staff, no one but you or I can break it, nor can anyone see through the glamour." He replied. Even his voice had been altered into a much deeper version of his normal voice.

"Good then we had better go. Are we all happy with the plan?" Hermione asked. They both nodded and walked to the closed door. Opening it a fraction Harry peered out to see if anyone was around. Upon seeing an empty corridor he hurriedly opened the door and ushered the girls out.

"Come on, we need to get to the atrium to make our way to the transportation department."

"Which way are the lifts?" Luna asked. Harry subtly took out his wand and whispered "Point me" to it. The wand spun in his palm before pointing to the left. They all slowly walked towards the end of the corridor where the wand spun to the right. Following the wand they quickly made their way to the lifts. Calling for the lift they cast a 'notice-not-me' charm on themselves for added protection. Soon the lift arrived and they entered. They had arrived in one of the almost unused section of the ministry as it had been decided by Bill that that would be the most un-populated section. This did mean for a long lift ride but that was soon interrupted when they stopped on another floor and two people got in. Harry's heart dropped when he recognised the pink cardigan wearing toad that was Delores Umbridge. She was accompanied by a cruel looking man they recognised as Pius Thicknesse the so called Minister of Magic. As they entered the continued a hushed conversation, not noticing the three people stood behind them.

"Delores, how goes the camps?" Thicknesse asked in his gruff voice.

"Brilliantly Minister, we have already got another batch of the half-breeds and muggle born pigs to go to the work camps. The last batch are nearly finished."

"What are you going to do with the last lot once they are exhausted?"

"Well I was going to let the Dementors have all the adults and give the children to Greyback and his friends for some sport."

"Well you can give the children to the wolf, but I have had orders from the Dark Lord. He wants the newest batch of Death Eaters to have some training with live targets. We will go and herd the beasts together and bring them to his presence."

"You are coming to the camp sir? Is that wise, what if you are seen?" Delores asked in a sick sweet voice.

"So what if I am seen, no one can doubt that the Dark Lord is going to win this war. Who's going to stop him now that Potter is dead?"

"Potter is dead? When did this happen?" Delores asked in a surprised voice.

"Word came from the Master that Snape and the Malfoy boy managed to kill him when they fled Hogwarts. It was only this news that kept them both alive for the Master was very annoyed that Hogwarts is no longer under his control, well at least for the moment." Thicknesse told her.

"And the Master is sure that the Potter brat is dead?"

"He fell from the tallest tower whilst unconscious. No one could survive that, his body must have practically dissolved when it hit" he said with a gleeful voice. Delores giggled and with a flushed expression pulled the Minister down for a loud and sloppy kiss. Before it could go any further the lift pinged to signal its arrival and the doors opened and everyone got out. Just before they all left Luna, unnoticed by the other two cast a small charm on the Toad. Harry, Hermione and Luna left quickly and found their way to a deserted corridor before turning to each other. Hermione looked angry and Luna was looking green around the gills as she remembered the toad kissing the troll.

"Harry, we have to stop them, they are going to kill innocent people and feed the children to the werewolves. We cannot let them do that" she told him, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Mione, we will stop them, I promise but how?"

"Well we could just follow them and you know...do our thing" Hermione said

"What make it up as we go?" Harry replied with a wry grin.

"You got it!" she said with another grin.

"What about the report that I'm dead, are we going to let them think that because it may put Hogwarts in danger if Moldyshorts thinks no one is around to stop him."

"We need to stop Thicknesse and Umbitch first though" Hermione countered.

Luna looked up at the pair with a smile on her face. "Who's to say doing that won't solve both problems?"

Harry took in a long breath, slowly releasing it. "Okkkaayy, we need to do this before we can go to get the cup. We need to find Toady first."

"Okay how?" Hermione asked, knowing that the "point me" charm would not work on people.

Before Harry had a chance to answer Luna piped up. "We could always use the tracking charm I put on her."

"What? How, why did you do that?" Harry asked gobsmacked.

Luna smiled at him and for a brief moment, her eyes returned to their usual silvery blue colour. "Because I knew we would need it Harry, why else?"

"Luna Lovegood, you are amazing and don't let anyone tell you different." He told her kissing her forehead. Luna beamed at him, despite everything she knew and what she had to do, she still harboured a secret crush on Harry. She knew she wouldn't ever do anything about it; her future lay in a different path, but it still gave her a thrill. She could feel herself blushing and when she looked up she could see Hermione looking at her with a knowing look. Hermione nodded just once and Luna blushed even more. Harry was totally oblivious to all of the byplay between the two women, he was just glad that they had a way of finding Umbridge.

"Well come on then, no time to lose." He told them.

With a smile, Luna activated the charm and soon they were following a corridor to the office of Umbridge. She had moved offices since the last time they had confronted her, this one was a lot larger. They were about to try to open the door when they heard footsteps approaching the closed door. Quickly they pulled away and watched as the door opened and Dolores walked out. She had black robes on and was carrying something that looked a lot like a silver mask. Harry raised an eyebrow as he recognised the mask and they followed the now confirmed Death Eater as she made her way to the Ministers office. Unaware she was been followed she knocked on the door and let herself in, not really noticing the brief movement of air as three other people came with her. Thicknesse was just finishing putting on his black robes and looked up at his lover.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Looking forward to it Pius." She replied.

The Minister and marked Deatheater took out a Portkey and held it up.

 _#Mione, will a tracking charm work if the subject uses a Port-key?#_

 _#Yes Harry, but we would have to apparate to the location quickly as the trace will fade.#_

 _#Why not hold on to one of them and go with them?#_

 _#They will feel it and when we land...well you know how you are with Portkeys#_

Hermione felt a mental laugh in her head, as they watched the two Deatheaters vanish.

The three stood up and looked around the office briefly before Harry gazed into Luna's eyes. Luna felt his mind graze against hers and she gasped at the enormity of the power he possessed. Using the location charm she found her subject and passed the location to Harry. It seemed that the camp was in North Wales somewhere.

"Everyone ready?" Harry asked as he took both Luna's and Hermione's hand.

"Harry, there are anti-apparition wards in the Ministry building, we need to get out of here first." Luna said.

Harry just grinned at her and with a wink they silently vanished from the room.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

"Harry James Potter, don't do that to me without warning me first!" Luna told him as they re-appeared in a wooded forest.

"Sorry Luna, we had to get here quickly." He replied looking around. They were in a small grove of trees with a slight path leading off. Now that Harry was aware of the tracking charm he could practically see the route that Umbridge had taken towards the path. They all followed the path until they came to a large clearing. What they saw shocked them to the core. In front of them was a large muggle style barbed wire fence with guard towers located at every few hundred feet. There were a small number of rude huts in the centre and surrounding the perimeter were Dementors flying in all direction. They could all feel the coldness that the evil creatures created.. At the gates to the facility a few Death Eaters guards were stationed, all dressed in their usual black robes but without the masks. There was a four meter pole with the body of a witch impaled on the spike, she had obviously been tortured before her end, and had a look of horror on her face. Surrounding the pole was the decaying bodies of previous occupants of the pole, no attempt had been made to give the dead a dignified burial. Harry could smell the scent of death even from where he crouched. The guards were laughing at something and occasionally throwing stones at the dead witch. From inside the camp, screams could be occasionally heard as the systematic destruction of humanity was performed.

Harry heard Hermione heaving as she caught scent of the smell, before she turned to him.

"This stops today!" she snarled.

"Yes love, I promise. I will do a quick check of the place before we do something. Do you think you two can deal with the Dementors whist I get rid of the rest? We will need to move fast, because they will be aware of our presence as soon as we attack."

Hermione nodded and watched as Harry blurred into a small falcon. With a quick wink, he launched into the air. He had to shut down his much more powerful olfactory senses to avoid been ill due to the smell, but soon he was flying above the camp. What he saw with his powerful eyes made him almost loose his control. Umbridge and Thicknesse had called out the guards and they were dragging the prisoners by any means they could into a large group in the centre. Some were been dragged by their hair, and some by other body parts. The group was been split into adults and children, with parents obviously trying to stay with their loved ones. Harry could hear the cries and moans of the prisoners as well as the laughs of the guards. There were about twenty guards and a handful left in the observation towers. They were clearly not expecting any sort of trouble from any outside source. Flying quickly back to the girls, he swiftly blurred back to his normal form, swearing as he did.

"We need to be quick; they look ready to move them out. Hermione, you need to be fast with the Dementors and we cannot hold back. Aim to kill. Luna are you okay with this?"

Luna nodded and took out her wand. "Harry this has to be done." She told him.

Harry nodded and with a quick kiss to Hermione he took out his new staff. "Ready?" he asked. Upon seeing the nods of the girls he set off to the gate. As soon as he was in range he blasted the gates and the two guards stood in front of it apart with one swift blast of pure magic from the staff. The noise was deafening, as the explosion shook the ground. He could hear Hermione and Luna casting the Patronus charm, and was aware of a silver hare and a massive golden otter attacking the foul creatures. Ignoring that for the moment, he casually walked through what was left of the gates and into the camp itself. The guards and prisoners were equally stunned and no one moved as a figure strode through the smoke. Having cancelled the glamour's on himself earlier no one was on any doubt who was coming towards them.

"Potter? But how, you're dead!" Thicknesse gasped in shock and fear.

Harry laughed grimly, "It appears not, you Death Eater scum. Now let these people go and I may let you live." He told them, not expecting them to comply.

"Kill him, destroy him now." Thicknesse shouted, with spittle flying from his mouth as he shouted. Like all cowards as soon as he gave the order he scuttled away, taking Umbridge with him. The remaining Deatheaters were weighing up the odds. It looked like Harry was alone and they liked the odds. They slowly lined up, wands drawn and with grins on their faces. Harry casually watched them and allowed them line up.

"Hello Boys!" He drawled, moving his staff into position. A few of the more intelligent Deatheaters recognised a staff and there grins faded somewhat. No one seemed to be prepared to cast the first spell as they looked at the grinning Potter.

"Kill him!" Thicknesse ordered from the other side of the compound. This seemed to be the catalyst that the Deatheaters needed and they all started firing curses at the lone boy. The air seemed to turn dark with curses and the dust was whipped up so much that Harry became impossible to see. After a few minutes of this Thicknesse called a halt and gleefully came back over, convinced that when the dust settled they would see the broken and bloodied body of his Masters enemy.

Slowly the dust settled and with an audible gasp they were all shocked to see Harry stood with the same grin on his face. He was however not alone, he had been joined by Hermione on one side and Luna on the other. The Dementors had either been driven away or destroyed and the girls had decided to join Harry.

"That's the best you got?" Harry asked before quickly pointing the staff at Thicknesse. Before the Minister could blink, Harry cast a spell at him. It was like nothing he had seen before and would ever again, because the very atoms that made up his body were violently blown apart. Nothing was left, not even a smear of blood on the ground. Before any of the other Death-Eaters could react the spells started to come thick and fast from the trio. Soon all that was left was a pile of either dead or injured bodies. Harry whirled on the spot and one by one blasted the observation towers into pieces. Soon the only person left was Umbridge who was stood shaking with fear and fury at the scene in front of her. Harry slowly walked to her, aware that Hermione and Luna were seeing to the prisoners'.

"How dare you Potter, the Dark Lord will make you pay for this a thousand times. Killing me will not stop his vengeance."

"Delores, Delores, I have no intention of killing you...yet. Go back to your Half-Blood master and give him a message. Tell him Harry Potter said "Hi" and that like the poor marksman that he is, he just keeps missing the target. Tell him that and also tell him to run, because I will be coming for him and I will finally kill him. Tell him that Delores." And with a grin he touched her forehead with his staff. She glowed blue before vanishing. Harry stood for a while before turning to the crowd behind him.

"Mione, how are they?" he shouted.

"Bad Harry, they need medical attention and quick."

"FAWKES!, You mangy bird!" Harry shouted to the air. With a flash the phoenix appeared.

" _You hollered Milord!"_ he said.

"Yes, Fawkes. Can you possible take these people to Hogwarts, specifically to the Great Hall? Madam Pomfrey and her healers will need to see to them. Once you've done that, can you also take the injured Deatheaters for medical attention? I will not become like HIM and let them die, they can be treated and then have their magic bound like the others in the dungeons."

Fawkes looked at him for a while before a mental grin could be felt.

" _Yes Harry. You are a good man, and I am proud to be bound to you."_ He said sincerely.

Harry smiled and looked embarrassed for a moment, before shooing the bird away.

"Get on with you, bloody bird!" he said warmly

" _Language!"_ came the reply before the phoenix flew around the huddled group of injured prisoners'. As he flew trails of fire were left behind until the entire group was surrounded by the red fire. With a whoosh the group vanished.

Harry slowly walked back to Hermione who took him in her arms. She held him as with her other hand she took out Ravenclaw's wand and destroyed the rest of the camp.

"Come on Harry, we need to get back to the Ministry and find our way to Romania."

Harry nodded and beckoned for Luna to join them. He concentrated and they vanished with a slight pop. The camp remained quite other that the groans of the injured, before soon they also vanished in a whirl of phoenix fire.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was a relatively easy job to find their way to the magical transportation department. Finding it almost empty, the trio quickly stunned the few guards and workers before Hermione found the correct floo address. Quickly activating the floo they all jumped into the green fire and vanished to Romania.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! AVEDA KEDAVERA!"

The green fire hit the cowering Dolores in the chest and the toad knew no more.

"How can he be still alive? This is not acceptable! Someone find me Snape and that blasted Malfoy boy."

Snape was listening to this from a hidden alcove he had discovered. He was shocked that Potter was still alive, a condition that if he didn't get out of the way soon he would not be able to claim for himself. Casting a disillusment charm upon himself he crept away. Mexico sounded good about now. As he crept away, he could hear the screams as Voldemort started on young Draco. He briefly regretted not been able to help his godson, but only briefly. He winced at a particularly loud scream could be heard as he left the building. Whistling to himself he walked away from England and Voldemort. Yes Mexico was looking very nice.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen – Castle Dracule**

Deep in the depths of the Romanian ministry was an empty unused room. It had been sealed for nearly a year, magical charms covering the entrance and the floo to stop unauthorised use of the connection. Romania had cut ties with the British since the rebirth of Voldemort and his minions. The government was all too aware of their countries reputation for been 'dark' but despite some evidence to back that assumption up, the current government was keen to dismiss those rumours. Sure they had a vampire problem, a big problem at that, and yes, Voldemort had taken refuge in the country when he was a shade – but the general populace of the magical community were good law abiding citizens keen to live good lives. So when the Dark Lord rose to power in magical Britain, Romania cut all ties with the beleaguered country and sealed the international floo.

However the blocks on the floo were suddenly broken and the familiar green flames rose within the space. Three people suddenly appeared, two gracefully stepping out of the grate, and the third stumbling and falling flat on his face.

"Ouch! Bugger! Why can I never get the hang of that?" Harry groaned from the floor. The light of the floo died and all three found themselves in a totally dark room.

"Lumos" Harry muttered and a ball of pure white light appeared on the palm of his hand lighting up the room in an intense white light; blinding all three of them with the suddenness of it all. Harry magically dimmed the ball of light until it was no longer painful to look at and left all three of them blinking away the sudden spots of light that appeared in their vision.

"Sorry, I guess I overpowered that a little. Where are we and where is everyone?" Harry asked as they all looked around the empty and very dusty room. Above the fireplace was a small Union Jack flag, faded and scratched but other than that the room was empty. Suddenly a loud alarm sounded and the door burst open. Four armed wizards ran in, wands aimed at them.

"Rămâi unde ești și nu te mișca. Ține-ți mâinile unde le pot vedea." The lead wizard shouted.

"Acum!" he shouted when they did not move.

Harry slowly raised his hands, he had not understood the words but the meaning was very clear. Even though Hermione and he could take the four with little problem, they needed the help of the government here so he decided to play it safe.

"Sorry, but I do not understand you sir" he said slowly and calmly.

"Inglsih? Do not move! Hands up!" The wizard told them in heavily accented English.

Slowly all three raised their hands. None of them had their wands drawn but Harry sill had the glowing ball of light attached to his now raised palm.

"Vot is dat?" the wizard asked, pointing at the ball of light with his wand.

"Sorry but it was dark when we arrived. Nox!" Harry said causing the light to fade. This alarmed the wizards who all now pointed there wands at Harry, the points of which were all glowing with barely repressed spells.

"Now Demetri, there is no need for all this hostility. I am sure that these fine people mean us no harm." A familiar voice said from the dark doorway. With a wave of his hand the lights came up in the room and everyone blinked in the sudden illumination.

"Viktor!" Hermione shouted with a smile on her face.

"Hermy-own-ninny? Is that you? Vot are you doing here? Is that Harry with you?"

"Viktor, yes it's me. Could you ask you men to stand down, it's very hard to talk when they are pointing wands at you."

"How do I know it's really you?" Viktor asked.

"Viktor, when you took me to the Yule Ball, you kissed me once on the cheek and told me to admit that I loved Harry. I spent the whole evening talking about him and you realised that I loved him. I didn't believe you and it took me a few years to admit it to myself but we are now together."

"It is you! Demetri, you and your men may stand down. These are friends and I am to take them to the Minister."

"Yes sir!" Demetri saluted and the four lowered their wands and moved to stand by the door.

"Hermy-own-ninny, what are you doing in Bulgaria? Are you in need of help?"

"Yes Viktor we need some help. We need your help to defeat Voldemort"

"You need to come with me then to speak to the minister." He told them, and turned to leave. The three followed him and the four Aurors followed behind at a discrete distance.

"So tell me, are you vell?"

"We are well Viktor. I need to tell you that Harry and I are married now..."

"That is great Hermy I knew you vud end up together. I am with Katarina now, ve are to be married next summer. You are one lucky man Harry, Hermy-own-ninny is a special lady who made me realise that my Katarina was the one for me."

"Thank you Viktor. Who is Katarina if you don't mind me asking?" Harry asked.

"Vell, she is the love of my life. She worked with the team during the world cup. I vos to scared to speak to here but Hermy-own-ninny gave me the confidence to ask her, and she said yes. You vill both come to the vedding yes?"

"Off course Viktor we would love to, that's assuming we can rid the world of Voldemort before then." Harry replied. They continued walking down the corridor, with Luna trying to look unobtrusive, that was until Viktor spotted her.

"And who is your friend Hermy?" he asked as they walked.

"Viktor, may I introduce a very good friend of ours, Miss Luna Lovegood. Luna is our...guide on this little trip."

"Good to meet you Miss Lovegood, any friend of Hermy-own-ninny is a friend of mine. Can I ask what your little trip is in aid of?"

"Well it would be best if we speak to your minister first."

"Off course yes, we are nearly there." He said as he led them to a large oak door with two guards stood outside of it. As they approached they both saluted Viktor and opened the door for him.

"Sir, he is expecting you!" one of them told the party.

"Thank you Alexi." Viktor said as he led the threesome into the large office. Sat at the desk was a large, stern looking man, who looked up as the party entered the room.

"Viktor! Sunt acestea intruși? De ce le-ai adus aici și să nu le ia în jos la interogatoriu?" The minister said.

"Yes, sir, these are the intruders, but as they are friends of mine I brought them to see you instead of taking them to integration. May I present Harry Potter, his wife Hermy-own-ninny Potter and there friend Luna Lovegood. Harry, Hermy and Luna this is Minister Vladimir Krum, my uncle."

"Harry Potter eh! Now this is a surprise. And Mrs Potter, Viktor has spoken of you many times." The minister said in heavily accented English. "To what do we owe the honour Mr Potter?" He asked motioning for them to sit at the chairs that had appeared in front of the desk.

"Well sir, we are in need of your help. I assume that you know of our fight with the so called Lord Voldemort?"

"Yes Mr Potter, we are aware of your Dark Lord problem. I had hoped that your government would be more pro-active in the curtailing of the bastard, but they seemed content to let the man grow to power."

"Well yes. It has fallen to me due to a prophecy to stop him and we are searching for dark artefacts he has used to anchor himself to this world. Once such object has been traced to your country and we need to find and destroy it."

"May I ask what this artefact is Mr Potter?"

"Sir, this is very confidential, but have you heard of a Horcrux?"

"Sweet Merlin! Surly not? He didn't make one of those cursed object did he?"

"No sir, he made seven. We have destroyed five and there are only two left. Once we destroy them then he can be killed."

There was a long pause as both Viktor and Vladimir absorbed the information.

"Where is the item located and how may we help you?" Vladimir finally asked.

"Well that is the problem. This item is in the hands of the Lord and Lady in Castle Dracule. We need to go there and get it, and we need someone to take us to the castle."

"WHAT? That is impossible! No one can go there; it would be suicide to even try. We have sent Aurors before to try to rid ourselves of our little vampire problem, but none ever come back...well none ever came back human anyway. I cannot allow you to go."

"Sir, you don't understand, we have to go if we are to defeat Voldemort. Can you at least give us a map of how to get there?"

"Sir, I will take them!" Viktor announced.

"Viktor, you cannot do this, you will be killed or turned. You all will!"

"Sir, if this is what it takes to defeat Voldemort then I am willing to help. You don't know Harry the way I do and he is the only one who can do this."

The Minister began to talk to Viktor is fast Bulgarian, with Viktor replying angrily. After a few minutes the minister sat back defeated.

"Special Auror Krum will accompany you to the deserted village, but he will return straight away. You will be on your own when he leaves."

Viktor looked up suddenly at the last bit of the minister proclamation. "Sir, you cannot expect me to leave them, my honour will not allow me to run away and leave them….Sir!"

Vladimir sighed and ran his hand through his thinning hair. "You are so like your father! He was as stubborn as you are. Very well, but if you die you are telling your mother. My sister-in-law is not the sort of woman I want to annoy."

Viktor laughed a sharp laugh. "Thank you Uncle, I will be careful." He stood and the other all followed suit.

"Thank you Minister for allowing Viktor to help us. I promise you that we will make sure that he remains safe….well as much as we can do so." Harry said. If anyone else had said this it would have sounded conceited and the minister initially started to scoff. That was until he looked in to the green eyes of the man stood in front of him. This wasn't a boy, but a battle hardened warrior, as was the young woman stood with her hand in his. He suddenly gulped at the thought that these two could obliterate him with a single thought, and this was quickly followed by a sudden feeling that maybe…just maybe these two could save the world.

"Thank you Lord Potter, Lady Potter. I won't tell you to be careful but good luck."

Everyone shook hands and Viktor lead them all out of the office. As they left tow of the Aurors that had accompanied them to the office took up station a few paces behind the small party.

"How are we to get there Viktor?" Hermione asked.

"Ve will floo to the village of Bram. It's been deserted for years, the populace all killed or turned by the vampires. We maintain an underground floo there in order to occasionally spy on them. It's highly restricted. However before we go we need to change our clothing. It's very cold in the area and you vill need warm clothing and good boots. How much do you know about fighting Vampires?"

"Not much other than sunlight and garlic…"

"Bah! Muggle media and fiction. Vampires are not killed by sunlight, they don't like it but they are quite able to valk in the sun. Garlic is an urban myth written by Hollywood. There are only three sure ways to kill a Vampire; decapitation, a stake through the heart and the use of Holy water. The last one is a difficult one, you cannot just cover them in Holy water, it needs to get inside them. The best way to survive an encounter with a vampire is to run away. If they capture you they vill either feed on you till you die, or feed on you till you are near death. They may then allow you to drink a small amount of their blood. You vill still die because you soul vill move on, but your body vill be taken over by a demon and you vill rise as a vampire. Your skin will be cold due to your lack of soul, but your body will be almost immortal – oh and you will still have a reflection; that is another Hollywood mistake."

They were all silent as they walked, however Harry and Hermione were having an urgent silent conversation. After a while they both smiled to each other; plans made. Soon they came to an equipment room where they were issued with comfy Dragon skin boots and dark Yeti fur coats. Viktor then led them back to the section of the ministry they arrived in. He explained that this was the floo station. Every country had their own room, but internal floo's operated from a large room with a dozen fireplaces set along a long wall. One of them was sectioned of with warning notices all over it and guards stood with cross-bows and wooden stakes in their hands.

"This is the floo to Bram. We have a permanent guard on it equipped to deal with any incursion. Any out-going floo's have to be authorised with a code-word which changes daily. The minister gave me todays code before we left. The code-word will only allow the authorised number of people to floo before the flame goes out."

Viktor walked to the guards and showed his I.D. They nodded and raised the barrier to the fireplace. On the wall was what looked like a Muggle computer keyboard that Viktor tapped in a long code. As soon as he had finished the floo flared a bright blue before settling down to a gentle blue flame.

"As this a restricted single destination floo you don't need powder." He told them

"And the blue flame rather than the green?" Harry asked.

"It's prettier!" he told them with a shrug. "Ready?" he asked

They all nodded and Viktor stepped in to the flame and vanished. One by one they all followed and once they had all gone the flame went out and the guards returned to attention.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

In a dark basement of an abandoned house deep in the forests of Transylvania; a floo suddenly lit and four people stepped out….well three stepped and one fell.

"Bugger!" Harry swore, "Every time!"

Hermione and Luna laughed whilst Viktor looked confused.

"Sorry, old joke!" Hermione managed to say as she helped her husband to his feet. The air was cold and stuffy, the room covered in a thick layer of dust. The only source of illumination was from a small lamp that had lit automatically in response to the activation of the floo. In the corner was a steep set of stone stairs that led up to a metal door that was heavily bolted on the inside. On one wall was a large rack of crossbows all complete with wooden stakes for ammunition, as well as a small number of sharp axes. Viktor took one of the cross-bows along with a number of the wooden stakes, as well as strapping an axe to his back. Handing a cross-bow to Harry and Hermione who took them, he then tried handing one to Luna.

"Sorry Viktor but I do not need one, my future lies in another direction and I will not need one."

Viktor shrugged and went to the stairs; taking a key from his pocket he unlocked the doors and waved his wand before taking hold of the door and pushing it open. The door was mirrored and this allowed him to see into the room beyond and to check that it was safe to enter. The room was deserted and covered in dust, snow was silently falling through the broken roof above and a bitter wind assaulted them.

"Come on its clear. Ve have a half hour walk to the castle, but ve need to be very careful. The Vampires will have scouts about and they don't take kindly to visitors. Ve need to keep low and to the trees for as much as possible."

"Would it help if we had an advance guard?" Harry asked. Viktor raised an eyebrow to Harry who grinned and morphed into a tall grey wolf, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.

 _#Mione, if you stay Human with Viktor and Luna then I can tell you if anything or anyone is around before they spot us.#_

 _#Great idea Harry, I'll tell the others.#_

Hermione told Viktor and Luna what Harry had planned and they all quickly agreed. Viktor felt a little daft telling a wolf which direction to go in, but soon the four of them were out in the forest following the pathway that lead to the castle. Harry was ahead in his wolf form checking for the scent of anything alive in the area. He was puzzled by the forest that lay around him. It was a very dense pine forest, that limited the snow-fall to the forest floor, and in other circumstances the sight of the soft snow-flakes gently floating to the ground would have been considered beautiful. However this forest was wrong and it took Harry a few minutes to figure out why. Finally it struck him; in other forests there were always the sounds of life around, the chirp of birds in the tree-tops or the sound of animals snuffing in the undergrowth. The difference was that this forest was silent, totally and utterly silent and devoid of life. It was an eerie feeling and Harry's wolf instincts were screaming at him to get out of there. Harry fought his instincts and soon he led the others to the castle itself. The three joined him and he morphed back into his human form. They were in a small ditch from which they could clearly see the castle. It was a foreboding looking castle, straight out of the Hollywood movies that Viktor had lambasted earlier. Tall thin turrets covered the main central tower and the whole castle was shrouded in a dark cloud that swirled around the top of it.

"Castle Dracule, the home of the Vampire king and queen. What is your plan Harry?"

Harry looked at Hermione and they both nodded. "You and Luna need to stay here, you cannot help us now. Hermione and I need to do this alone."

"Harry, that is not possible. Ve have to come with you!" Viktor said. Luna was surprisingly silent as she listened to Harry. She had a knowing look on her face, as if to say that Harry proclamation was not a surprise to her.

"Viktor, there is no cover between here and the castle. As soon as we step out of here we will be seen and then it's all over. Harry and I can get to the castle unseen."

"How?" Viktor wanted to know.

They both morphed into large eagles and then they both faded from view as they became invisible before returning to human form. "Like that"

"Oh! Well that's... okay, but what do we both do here?"

"Victor, Luna is a great friend of ours and we need you to keep her safe for us until we return. If we are not back in two hours get her back to your ministry. Don't worry about us, we will be fine."

Luna nodded at the other two and took Viktor hand. He looked at her in surprise and then settled back to watch. Harry and Hermione once more took the forms of the two eagles and then they faded from view. The remaining two could feel the sudden draft as the two birds took to the air and then there was silence.

High up in the air the two Eagles soared. There super-sharp eye sight watching the castle intently. They could see the vampire guards stationed at the turrets, and the scent of death hung over the castle. Spotting a quite roof area, Harry told Hermione to land. The two landed and took the form of human again but remained invisible for the moment. They moved cautiously along the roof until they found a small door that led into the castle interior. Entering they found themselves in a small room, deserted apart from a number of human skeletons scattered around. They could hear cheering from afar, and they slowly followed the sound until they came to a small room that overlooked a massive banqueting hall. The room was set up in a very similar layout to the great hall at Hogwarts, with lines of tables running along the length of the room and a long central table at the head. Above the central table was a raised platform upon which sat two black obsidian thrones, with the peak of the thrones crowned with the skulls of many human victims. The long tables were occupied by masses of cheering and drooling vampires and positioned on the tables themselves were the remains of trussed up humans. Some were still alive and Harry and Hermione could clearly see their eyes looking around in terror. Many were been drunk from, as the Vampires took it in turns to sink there fangs into the necks of the victims. As soon as one died it was unceremoniously thrown to the floor where an army of down-trodden House elves cleared away the corpses before bringing in another fresh victim and dumping them on the tables; to the cheers of the diners. Upon the top table was the minor lord and ladies of the 'court'. Here there was naked men and women bound by cords for the Vampires as they fed. Watching all of this was the king and queen, both sat on the dark black thrones. They were beautiful, the king with long black hair and a flawless face; the queen with deep red hair and a thin but beautiful face. Beautiful apart from the look of extreme cruelness etched on both of their faces as they watched their 'children' feast. On a small table in front of the thrones was a small gold cup. Stood next to the thrones was a cloaked figure, its hood pulled over its face. Harry turned to Hermione to see her silently vomiting as she tried to take in the scene.

 _#You okay love?#_

 _#Urg! I will be, but that's horrible. Those poor people.#_

 _#We need to stop this Mione#_

 _#How Harry, there has to be hundreds of them. Even with our immortality all it would take is for one of them to get to the cup and run with it.#_

 _#Remember the plan, you know what we have to do.#_

As they 'spoke' there was a sudden noise from the room and a side door was flung open. Four Vampire guards entered and behind them was some more guards dragging a pair of figures.

"My Liege, we have apprehended some intruders." The vampire rasped.

The king sat up and raised his hand. Immediately all noise stopped and the host of vampires stopped there feeding. The only noise was the soft whimpering from the remaining victims.

"Bring them to me" he commanded in a soft voice.

The guards dragged the pair of prisoner's up to the raised platform. With a sense of foreboding Harry and Hermione looked at the pairs dragon skin boots and soft fur coats that were draped around the prisoner's faces. When they were at the foot of the platform the king moved gracefully to the taller of the two prisoner's and pulled back the hood. It was Viktor, his face blooded and bruised, but his eyes alert.

"Viktor Krum! What a pleasure to see you. What brings you to our little castle?" he asked in a cruel voice.

"Go to Hell!" Viktor rasped in a painful voice.

"Already there dear boy, already there. And who is your friend?" As he spoke the queen had stood and moved to the other figure. She pulled back the hood to reveal Luna.

"My-my, what a pretty one. Would you like her dear?" she asked her husband.

The king licked his lips, his fangs clearly visible as he did so. "Who is she Viktor and why are you here?"

"Fuck you!" Viktor told him, only to be rewarded with a strong punch to his face that knocked his head back and causing him to lose consciousness.

"Now dear, look what you have done. You've broken him before we have found out the identity of this delightful creature. Who are you dear and why have you come here?" the queen asked Luna. Luna merely looked at the queen with here large silver eyes.

"I know who she is!" a familiar voice announced from the side of the thrones. Moving forward and throwing back his hood, 'Ron' walked to the king and queen.

"Hello Luna, fancy meeting you here" he said in an amused voice. Luna glared at him but said nothing.

"Who is she cousin, and what do you know of her?" the king asked.

"Her name is Luna Lovegood, a pathetic human but a friend of Harry Potter and his whore. If she is her then you can bet they are around. I guess that they are here for that pretty trinket you are guarding, and I bet they are watching us now, Hello Harry, where are you?"

As soon as the prisoner's had been brought in Hermione and Harry had gone on to full alert, Harry could feel Hermione grab his hand and if the pressure she was putting on it was anything to go by, she was very worried. When Ron revealed himself Harry gave a sharp intake of breath and his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Come on Harry boy, come say hello or you can guarantee that things won't go well for little Looney here."

"Come on 'Mione, we are going to have to change the plan." He growled as they both stood and jumped through the window and down to the floor fifty foot below. They both landed with a thud and immediately began casting cutting curses, decapitating vampires all around them, the bodies turning to dust before they had time to hit the ground. They advanced towards the platform, killing as they walked.

"STOP!" a voice commanded. The queen had stood in front of the fallen Viktor and shouted in a commanding voice. The king had moved to Luna and had her head in his hands. Her neck was exposed and he was bent over it with his fangs just grazing her skin.

"STOP, one more move and your little friend is dead…or worse." She commanded. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and slowly lowered their arms.

 _#Shit! What do we do know?#_ he asked her.

 _#We cannot put Luna in harm's way, and there is Viktor to think about as well. We need to see where this takes us.#_

As they lowered their wands the queen motioned for some of the other vampires to take them. They both felt their arms roughly taken and felt metal straps been put on their arms. As the metal straps were applied they both felt their magic dim, as if it was suddenly a long way away.

"Now that's better, and don't think of doing anything stupid, those are magic inhibitor bracelets on you both. Now we can chat."

"What shall we do with this delicious little morsel my dear?" the king asked.

"Do you want her my love?"

"Mmmm, yes please." The king replied, licking his lips.

"Then you may as well have her."

"NO! you can't" Harry shouted, struggling against his captors, he could see Hermione with an anguished look on her face as the king bent down to Luna's neck once more. As Harry was struggling he failed to see what Hermione saw, which was Luna look directly at Hermione and smile and wink at her. She mouthed two words…' _Trust me'_

 _#Harry! HARRY! It will be fine, Luna is up to something.#_

Luna's face however scrunched up in pain as she felt the fangs piece her neck and the king began to drink. It didn't take long before Luna became very pale and her eyes started to flutter shut. Before long the king was holding her up as he drained her nearly dry of her blood. Finally he stopped and looked up, her blood dribbling down his face as he looked at the two teens. Harry and Hermione had tears streaming down their face as they looked at their young friend.

"Delicious, now for the best bit, prepare to say goodbye to your little friend. "He laid her down on the table and with one long claw like nail he slit his own wrist. Holding his bleeding wrist he presented it to Luna's mouth.

"Drink little one, drink and become strong."

Luna's body reacted by instinct and she lapped at the blood that was entering her mouth. After a minute or so she fell back to the table.

"NOOOO!" Harry cried as he witnessed the death of her, the rest of the hall laughing and cheering. Ron was laughing as he watched the look of anguish on his old friends face.

"Now what do we do with you two. Why are you here?" the queen asked.

"Fuck you!" Harry cried.

"They are after the cup my liege. They wish to destroy it so they can kill Voldemort." Ron told them. "They are no use to you, except as food."

"Very well, we are both hungry tonight." The King said in a cruel voice.

By now the king had left Luna to awaken and had moved to Hermione's side. "Watch as your beloved dies Potter!" he said, sinking his teeth deep into Hermione's neck. Hermione screamed as he brutally drained her. It seemed that her veins were not quick enough, so he moved and pieced her carotid artery, the blood now spurting out into his awaiting mouth; covering his body as it did so. After a few seconds Harry felt Hermione die and the king threw her body into a heap in the floor.

Harry screamed in despair as he witnessed the death of his wife, but this didn't last long as the queen sunk her fangs into his neck. The pain was indescribable as she fed on him, and soon he felt the world fade and his vision turned to black.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen – Surprise!**

The queen let Harry's body drop with a thud and she laughed as she delicately wiped her mouth of his blood. She looked over at her blood drenched husband and smiled; he always was a messy eater.

"Clean yourself up my love, we have company." She told him.

Ron meanwhile had moved over to the bodies, and was checking for a pulse. Satisfied that there was none he stood, noting as he did that the magic inhibitors had come free, they had detected the death of their victims and automatically come free.

"Why are you checking that piece of meat cousin, they are dead...very dead."

"Yes, I thought so before but it seems I was wrong that time, I'm just making sure, and you are right, they are dead...finally." He looked at the others questioning glance before shrugging his shoulder. "Never mind, shall we continue the feast whist we await the birth of a new member of your clan?" he asked glancing at Luna.

The masses cheered and the party carried on as before. The bodies of Harry and Hermione were left where they were and no one seemed to notice the unconscious body of Viktor. The king and queen took their seats again and the king cleaned himself up.

Harry suddenly felt himself wake, as his body quickly manufactured more blood. He tried to keep still as the resurrection process took hold, but he felt his hand twitch as Hermione took it. She was awake too, she had come around before him due to the fact she died first, but had kept still whilst she waited for her husband.

 _#Harry you okay?#_

 _#Yes, but Luna?...#_

 _#I know, but we need to deal with the vampires first. You ready?#_

 _#Ready! Now!#_

They both stood up, surprising the Vampires stood around them; they both reached out there hands and there wands flew into them.

"Surprise!" Harry shouted at the king and queen.

"What? How? That's impossible!" the king stated. "You were dead!"

"Bugger not again...Tell me about it!" Ron muttered to himself.

"Well you can never be too sure, but you two have a problem, you drank our blood, blood that we own, and blood that we magically altered before coming here. With a single thought we can do this." Harry told them. They both concentrated on their blood, willing it to change. The blood lost its redness and took on the consistency of clear water, clear water that was blessed by God – Holy Water. The two vampires began to scream as the Holy water coursed throughout their bodies, infecting every cell with its pureness. Suddenly the two vampires began to smoke as they screamed, before they both burst into flames. As soon as they did, every single vampire in the castle and beyond, every single vampire that was a 'child' of the king and queen simultaneously burst into flames as well. Every single one except the small blonde haired girl that lay on the table. Before long every single vampire was nothing more than ash, except for the king and queen who were still burning and screaming. This lasted a few seconds after the last of their children died before they two joined the piles of ash. The room was silent for a few seconds before Harry noticed 'Ron' moving away from the group towards the small golden cup on the table.

"Ron, leave it!" he yelled at the moving demon. Ron stopped and smiled at him. "Harry Fucking Potter, still alive I see!" he taunted. Un-noticed the cup briefly glowed before it rattled and started to move towards the demons out-stretched hand.

"No!" Harry yelled and willed the sword of Gryffindor to his hand. With a huge throw, he threw the sword at the cup, it spun end over end towards the moving cup, slicing it in half as the sword flew. The cup burst into flames and a black smoke erupted from it accompanied by an agonised scream that faded into the air. One half of the cup continued its journey to Ron's hand and the other fell to the floor with a clang. Everyone stopped and looked at the quivering sword embedded deep into the stone wall, and at the half cup in the floor. Ron looked at the other half cup in his hand and growled a curse at it before throwing it to the floor. Unseen by anyone, Ron grinned to himself before looking at Harry.

"Curse you Potter!" he spat at him before grinning and with a wink at Hermione he flew upwards towards the ceiling and with a blast of his magic he burst a hole in the ceiling and flew off into the snow filled sky.

"He can fly now?" Harry asked no one in particular before walking and picking up the two halves of the cup and placing them in a back-pack he was wearing. He then moved to the sword and with a sharp tug pulled it out of the wall. He looked at the blade for a few seconds checking it for damage before it vanished from his hands. He slowly and sadly looked around the now deserted and silent hall. With a silent tear rolling down his face he walked over to the silent Luna and gently brushed her hair from her face. He was surprised to feel that her skin was still warm to the touch. He heard a groan and turned to see Hermione helping up a groggy Viktor.

"Viktor, are you you? Harry asked, checking his neck for bite marks. There seemed to be none.

"Dar! I am me, I think. Vot happened? Vere are the Vampires?"

"The Vampires are dead…"

"All of them?" he asked in an astonished voice.

"Yeah….well all but one." He said in a sad voice, pointing at the prone Luna.

Viktor looked sad and with a grim expression he took one of his wooden stakes from the ammo pack he was carrying. "Ve need to destroy the creature before it awakens. I'm am sorry but your friend is dead." He began to walk over to Luna, raising the stake as he did.

"Viktor wait! Feel her skin, she is still warm. I thought you said that you will be cold." Harry told him.

Viktor looked oddly at Harry and walked over to Luna, placing his hand on her forehead he almost jumped as he felt her skin.

"That's not possible, if she has been turned she is dead, her soul has moved on and she is possessed by a demon."

"What does this mean?" Hermione asked.

"I do not know; we need to get her back to the Ministry. We have vampire experts there and they may know vot is going on."

"How long before she awakens?" Harry asked.

"Vell it varies. Some take a few hours, some longer. We have time to get her to a secure location if she does turn violent."

"Well come on then, there is nothing left here and we have achieved what we needed to achieve." Harry said, impatient to be off.

"Are you really telling me that you have killed all the vampires here? All of them?" Viktor asked in an awed voice.

"Well we knew that if you kill the sires then the rest would die. We allowed the king and queen to drink our blood, which we then transfigured to Holy water. They then burnt to death, killing all their offspring."

"But how did you survive the loss of blood?" Viktor wanted to know.

"Painfully, and we are very tired. Do you think we can continue this when we have rested?" Hermione answered. Viktor nodded and they prepared to leave.

"How are we going to get back. It's a long way to carry Miss Lovegood back to the village and you cannot apparate to the ministry." Viktor said.

Harry meanwhile had taken Luna in his arms and with a grim smile looked at Viktor. "Wanna bet?" he asked and without a sound he vanished taking Luna with him. Hermione smiled and took hold of Viktor's unresisting arm and they too vanished from view. The castle remained silent for a long while before it slowly started to break apart, as if all the years of evil had cursed the very stones that the castle was made from. Within minutes the whole castle was reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Vladimir Krum was a worried man as he sat at his desk, a glass tumbler filled with the best vodka money could buy. He swirled the liquid around the glass watching it cling to the sides as it moved. He had hardly touched it; he was just holding the glass to give his hands something to do whilst he waited for word of Viktor. He loved the boy far more than an uncle should, mainly due to the fact that he was not his uncle. He was not proud of how he acted all those years ago, but he was young and his sister-in-law was so beautiful, they couldn't help themselves. When Viktor was born nine months later, they had both vowed never to tell his brother, that Vladimir was the father. He had watched the boy grow and his brother dote on the child. When Sergei became ill and was lying in the hospital bed dying he had asked to speak to Vladimir and his wife. He had told him that he had always been infertile and that he knew that he wasn't Viktor's father. He forgave both of them and had asked him to look after the boy, and so Vladimir had done so, but he had never told him who his real father was. Waiting for him to come back was torture, He had flooed his mother and told her, and she was not pleased with either of them, but understood her son's determination to stand by his friends. They were both proud of Viktor and all of his achievements, both on the Quidditch field and more recently within the ministry.

His musing were suddenly interrupted by the sudden appearance of Harry and the young girl who were quickly followed by his 'nephew' and his lady friend. Harry was carrying the blonde bridal style and all looked terrible.

"Fuck me! How did you apparate into here, there are wards to stop that."

"Later sir! We need a healer fast. Our friend is in need of medical assistance." Harry told him.

"What happened to her?" he asked as he stood and moved to them. He spotted the tell tale signs of the bite marks on Luna neck and swore, turning to Viktor he began to shout.

"Viktor, you know she has been turned, she needs to die and quickly before she awakens. Why did you bring her back here, you know better than that." As he spoke he had taken out a wooden stake and was advancing on the young girl.

"Uncle wait! Feel her skin, she is still warm." Viktor told the older man.

Vladimir looked at Luna with a curious look and tentatively felt her forehead. He pulled his hand back quickly as if it had been stung, before he moved it back to her forehead.

"It's warm! How is this possible? Was she not turned?"

"Yes, she was turned but something is different about her. She has no pulse and I can smell that she is a vampire, but it seems different." Harry told him.

Vladimir made up his mind. "Follow me!" he ordered and quickly left the room with the others following along behind, as they exited the two guards immediately followed behind, wands drawn.

Vladimir led them to a large hospital wing and he flung open the doors and quickly entered.

"Sophia! We need your help!" he yelled as a middle aged women came out of her office. Harry was immediately reminded of Madam Pomfrey as the healer came hurrying over.

"Minister, what is the problem?" she asked in heavily accented English.

"It's the girl, she's been turned but something is odd, she is still warm."

"Merlin! Bring her here!" she commanded. Harry followed her and gently placed Luna on the bed, whilst Sophie began casting diagnostic spells on her.

"This is Sophie Dachev, one of our most senior healers, she also specialises in Vampire injuries. Sophie this is Harry and Hermione Potter, you know my nephew, and I'm sorry but I don't remember the young girl's name."

Hermione spoke up, "She is Luna Lovegood, a very important friend of ours. Can you tell us what is happening please?"

"Good to meet you all as to what is happening I'm not too sure at the moment, can you give a few minutes to run some tests." The healer asked, not waiting for an answer reminding Harry even more of the Hogwarts healer. She waved her wand over the blonde's prone body a few times before raising her eyebrows and swearing in Bulgarian, before finally smiling.

"That is amazing. This young girl is a first. She is a vampire, and always will be but for some reason I cannot explain, she still possesses her soul. She will still be the friend you have always known, but changed a little...oh dear!" she suddenly finished.

Harry and Hermione had been looking very relieved to hear the healer's words but were worried by the turn her voice took. "What? Is something matter?" Harry asked anxiously.

"No, nothing but we do have a little problem. When your friend awakens she will need to feed. Soul or no soul she still is a vampire and she will need blood. It's the first thing they do, and without fresh blood to complete the transformation she will die."

"Ok, what if we donate some of our blood for her?" Harry asked

"You don't understand, donated blood will work in the future but a vampire's first meal must be from a live victim."

"What about an animal?" Hermione asked.

"No, it has to be human, and she will drain them dry. Its instinct, she will not be able to help herself."

Harry looked at Hermione with a resigned expression, before turning to the healer. "I'll do it." He said simply.

"Mr Potter, you cannot do this, you will die." Sophie said shocked.

"What again?" Harry muttered before saying louder "Don't worry about me, I will be okay. How long before she awakens?" he asked.

"Not long, she is starting to change." Sophie said. Sure enough Luna's body was slowly changing. She grew a few inches taller, her hair took on a silver sheen and she grew in other, more womanly areas much to Harry's embarrassment. She looked stunning, her skin a flawless porcelain colour.

"It will be soon." Sophie said in a low voice. Harry moved and took the young girl in his arms, and gently moved her hair from her face. He sat with her for a few minutes, Hermione's hand resting on his shoulder as they waited. With a low cry Luna's eye's flickered open revealing bright blue purple eyes with cat like iris's in them. She looked around in confusion before she saw Harry starring at her. She opened her mouth to reveal two sharp looking fangs, but she shook her head and tried to get away from him.

"Luna, don't worry, feed from me. You know I'll be okay." He told her in a gentle voice.

"Mrs Potter, you cannot let him do this, he will die!" Vladimir said desperately. As he spoke, Luna looked into the green eyes of her friend and realised what he was doing for her. She smiled at him. "Thank you Harry" she said in a quiet voice, before delicately and gently sinking her fangs into his neck and she began to feed. Unlike the last time Harry felt this happen, there was none of the pain and fear that he felt before. Luna was gentle and the sensation was quite pleasant as she gently lapped at his neck. All the time he could feel her eyes on him as she held his hand as she drank. Eventually he began to feel the world spin, and his vision began to darken. Finally he lost all sense of self and Hermione felt his life slip away, but this time it was a gentle feeling; full of warmth and love. She held up her husband's body as Luna continued to drink. Luna finally removed her fangs from the dead man's neck and held him in her arms.

"Thank you Harry and Hermione for this." Luna said, as she delicately licked the remaining blood from her hands and wiped her face. Her fangs receded back into her mouth, but her cat like eyes remained.

The healer gently took Harry's pulse as he sat in Luna's arms. "I'm sorry Mrs Potter, but he is gone." Hermione laughed and looked totally unconcerned.

"Sophie, Minister" she said before turning to Viktor. "Viktor, please keep this a secret but Harry isn't dead. He cannot die, neither can I. We are both immortal." As she spoke she felt the life force return to her Harry and he slowly opened his eyes. This was the gentlest resurrection yet and he looked around to find himself still in Luna's arms but his gaze sought out the only person he wanted. His green eyes found the cinnamon coloured ones of his immortal love, tears standing unshod in them.

"Hiya Harry. Welcome back." Luna said as she released her hold on him. The three other witnesses to the miracle were stunned beyond words.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was a much more rested group sat in the comfort of the Minister office, all furnished with cups of strong coffee apart from Luna who had a small cup of Hermione's donated blood. The three Bulgarians were looking at the other three for answers, and Harry felt that it was time to give them.

"Okay, as Hermione said earlier, both she and I are immortal. We were given this gift by the Gods of Time in order to complete our mission here. First we have to destroy Voldemort, and now we also have to destroy a demon- a Soul Demon who is hell bent on ruling the world."

"My God! That is amazing!" Viktor said. "Hermy you will live forever?"

"Yes Viktor, with Harry by my side, and now it seems Luna as well."

"Yes, Miss Lovegood how come you are still you? I must admit this is the first time I have ever taken a coffee with a vampire and it is a bit unsettling." The Minister said. Everyone turned to look at the young vampire, sat sedately with a small cup of blood in her hand.

"Sorry but I have no idea why my soul remained in my body." She lied to the group. Luna felt very bad about lying but it wasn't time for her to reveal her true self just yet. "I just knew that I had to let the events happen as they happened. I'm sorry Harry and Hermione that you had to go through that, and I must admit to been a bit afraid about what I am now and how others will react to me. Madam Sophie has told me a lot about been a vampire, but even she is not sure what a vampire with a soul is capable of. One thing that I can tell you is that I never need to feed off a live human ever again. I can survive very well on donated blood and the odd animal."

"And we will always be happy to donate some for you Luna." Hermione told her with a smile. Sophie had taught both Harry and Hermione the spell needed to siphon of some of their blood, and with their immortality it was replaced instantly.

"Thank you both." Luna said in small voice as she drunk the rest of the glass of blood, her fangs showing themselves as she did. She delicately licked her lips and the fangs receded.

"What sort of things can you do Luna?" Harry asked.

Luna looked over at Sophie who nodded at her. "Well I am very strong now, and fast. I can make myself invisible if I want and I can Shadow move. That is I can use the shadows to move anywhere I want. But because I still have a human soul I can still use magic and my wand. Sophie and I tried earlier and it seems I am touch more powerful than before. Nowhere near as powerful as you and Hermione but I can do a lot more than before. Also unless my body is killed I am also nearly immortal. However I am susceptible to all that can kill other vampires other than Holy water." After a while the Minister coughed and asked a question that had been bothering him for a while.

"Harry may I ask how you apparated into my office earlier, the wards should prevent that from happening. If there is a security breach I do need to know about it?" Vladimir asked.

"Don't worry sir; the wards are still fine, only Harry and I can breach them."

"How?"

"Trade secret, but we can breach any wards, no matter how strong."

"Merlin!"

Harry smirked a little, they always said that.

"What are you going to do now?" the minister asked after a while.

"Well we have to go back to Britain and find the last Horcrux, although to be honest I have no idea what it is or where to look. Last time Luna helped with her sight."

"Sorry Harry, but since my turning I seem to have lost the sight. I just as stumped as you are on this."

"Damm! Okay we go home and have another war conference. Between everyone I'm sure we can come up with something." Harry replied.

"Well on behalf of the Bulgarian people I thank you both for ridding us of our Vampire problem, no offense Miss Lovegood, if there is anything we can do to aid you in the future please do not hesitate to ask. You are all friends of the country and we owe you a lot."

"Thank you Minister it was a pleasure. Now if you would excuse us, we have to be going." Harry said as he stood. Hermione followed and they both took Luna's hand.

Good by Harry, Hermy-own-ninny. Be careful please." Viktor said.

Hermione let go of Luna and walked over and hugged her friend. She kissed him gently on the cheek before turning to him. "See you at your wedding Viktor."

"Da! You are a lucky man Harry."

"I know" Harry replied as Hermione walked back over and took Luna's free hand.

"Harry, will my dad accept me now?" Luna asked in a small voice.

"Luna darling, you dad would love you no matter what happened. He will probably think that it's so cool that he will want to write about it in the Quibbler."

Luna laughed and with a small pop the three of them vanished.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen – Consequences**

" **SOMEBODY FIND ME SERVEROUS SNAPE OR YOU WILL ALL DIE!"** Came the very annoyed yell. Voldemort was not having a good day. First of all he had found out that his mortal enemy was not dead as he had been led to believe, and second, one of the pieces of shit that had fed him the false information was missing, leaving him no one to torture. Well no one anymore he thought as he glanced up at the hanging remains of the young Malfoy. His body was mostly only skeletal remains, with only shreds of flesh hanging on the bones. That was apart from a network of nerves that still encased the remains. That was not the worse however, his head was still intact and the eyes wide open in fear. They moved from side to side and the boy's mouth opened and closed in silent screams. Silent due to the fact he no longer had and lungs with which to move air around the remains of his vocal chords, nor any blood to circulate around the mouth. Normally this would of course not be a problem due to the victim been long dead, but Voldemort knew his curses well. This particular one kept the victims head alive, as well as the nervous system intact so that the unlucky victim could feel the enormous amount of pain from his ruined body. Nagini finished feeding on the last of the boys flesh and curled up to sleep, leaving Malfoy hanging from the wall, alive and dead at the same time. Voldemort had an even more grisly fate for the potions master planned but this had been thwarted by Snape's absence.

"WORMTAIL, BELLATRIX GET IN HERE!" he yelled as the two Deatheaters hurried into the room looking worried.

"Yes, my Lord?" Bella asked, whilst Peter just grovelled on the floor.

"Well? Where is he? I am most displeased with him and wish to make him aware of that."

"I am sorry my Lord but it seems that the traitor has fled and we ..." her sentence ended in a blood curdling scream as her master cast the torture curse on her. She felt her bladder open and the piss ran from her and down her legs.

"Not good enough Bella. Peter what other news?" he asked as he cancelled the curse on the fallen witch. Peter was shaking and refused to look at his master.

"M-m-my Lord, we have just received word from Bulgaria and..." he tailed off unsure on how to continue.

"What Peter? Tell your master."

"The V-v-vampires my lord...they are all gone – dead. It seems that Potter and his whore killed them all... Argh!" he fell to the floor twitching in agony as the vile curse hit him once more.

"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" Voldemort yelled, causing Peter to flinch as he felt the death curse fly over his head. Turning he saw it hit a new Death Eater who had just entered the room. The woman fell dead with a thump.

"ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" Yelled Voldemort. " **FIND ME SNAPE AND GATHER ALL OUR TROOPS. WE ARE GOING TO KILL EVERYONE IN DIAGON ALLEY AND DESTROY THE FUCKING GOBLINS!"**

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

With a quite 'pop' Harry, Hermione and the new vampire arrived at Potter Cottage late in the afternoon. The sun was setting, casting the room in a deep orange light, exaggerated by the flicker of the large fire that was burning in the fireplace. They all stood for a moment, savouring the warmth from the fire, and the beauty of the sunset before Dobby and Winky popped into the room.

"You is back Master Harry, and Mistress Hermione. It is good to see you both." Winky said. Dobby was just jumping up and down in excitement.

"You too Winky, who is around in the cottage?" Harry asked.

"There is Mr and Mrs Wheezy, the twin Wheezy's, Mr Lovegood is around as is Mr Charlie. Miss Wheezy is at school and Mr Bill and his Veela are at their home."

"Okay good, can you ask all the people in the house to come to the dining room please, then could you please ask Remus and Tonks, Kingsley and to come along. Dobby could you ask if Professor McGonagall is free and then go and see if Bill and Fleur are able to join us."

"Yes Master Harry sir!" Dobby said whilst Winky rolled her eyes at him. "Off course Harry" she said. As they 'popped' away Winky could be distinctly heard saying, "Honestly Dobby just call him 'Harry'..."

"Whilst they find our friends shall we find something to eat...Luna can you still eat normal food?"

"Merlin I hope so! Imagine life without pudding?" she replied with feeling.

"Let's go find out shall we" Hermione said with a smile.

They trooped into the large kitchen and raided the larder. Harry found some cold sausages and a slab of roast beef, which he shared with Hermione, whilst Luna found a large slab of chocolate cake. She placed it in plate and tentatively tasted it. He face screwed up into a grimace as the chocolate touched her tongue. "Euugh! Needs something extra! Harry can I have some...you know?" she asked. Harry sighed and waved his wand over his arm. He conjured a beaker and it slowly filled with deep red blood.

"That enough?" he asked. Luna nodded and took the beaker, her fangs slowly elongating as she looked at the viscous liquid. She poured it over the cake and took a spoon and began to eat. "Mmm! Blood and chocolate...lovely!" she sighed in contentment. Hermione and Harry were looking at her in amusement and disgust in equal measure.

"Not hungry any more Harry!" Hermione said pushing her plate away.

"Me neither!" Harry said. Luna looked at the two, a small dribble of blood running down her chin. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing Luna, nothing at all." Harry sighed as he too pushed away his plate. Luna smiled at them and returned to her blood cake with relish.

Hermione looked at the young vampire with an amused eye before turning to her husband.

"What do we do next Love?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"We need to figure out the last Horcrux, then we kill Voldemort, then 'Ron' then we have loads of sex, kids and live happily ever after...forever! Easy!" he said.

Hermione laughed at his statement but before she could continue, Dobby popped into the room to announce that their guests had arrived.

"You finished Luna?" Harry asked her.

"Mmhuh, thanks for the blood Harry. I think chocolate cake and blood is my new favourite." She said, whilst picking the bits of cake from her fangs.

"Won't catch on Luna, won't catch on!" he told her as they all stood and walked towards the large dining room.

"Harry, what are we going to tell people about me? What if my dad rejects me?" she asked with large tears threatening to run down her perfect cheeks.

"Luna, Xeno Lovegood will no more reject you that I would dance a tango with Voldemort...in drag! He loves and adores you and will probably be over the moon about his little girl becoming very powerful." Luna looked at him with a hopeful smile as she considered his words.

"Thank you Harry, you're a good friend." She said with a happy smile on her face. She pulled up her hood on her dark cloak that Sophie had given her. It cast her face into shadows, not allowing anyone to see her altered eyes and face.

"Just in case." She said to Harry's unasked question.

"Never happen Luna!" he told her as he opened the door to the dining room. Inside sat all the Weasleys, including Ginny who had come with Professor McGonagall, as well as Remus, a very heavily pregnant Tonks, Fleur, Kingsley and Xeno Lovegood.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled and raced over to hug him before hugging Hermione, a little less enthusiastically; that was until she saw Hermione smile at her.

"Sorry, I sometimes forget Hermione." She whispered.

"It's okay, I know you still love him, but so long as you remember he IS mine." Hermione replied half in jest, half seriously.

"Lord Potter, Can I assume your mission was a success?" Minerva asked.

Harry smiled and didn't answer her, he just reached inside his bag and took out the two halves of Hufflepuff's cup and flung them onto the table, where they clattered and came to a halt. Everyone looked at the two halves for a few minutes in surprise before Minerva moved to pick up the two pieces.

"Is this the real cup?" she asked

"Yes, Professor, we now only have one left to find." Harry told her.

"So the mission was a total success?" Kingsley asked in his deep voice.

"Well, we destroyed the Vampires..."

"What all of them?" He interrupted.

"Well nearly all, there was one little problem." Harry told him.

"Problem?" Molly asked.

"Yeah...Luna?"

Luna looked at the assembled group and slowly removed her hood, exposing her altered features and cat like eyes. She allowed her fangs to descend leaving no one unsure of her nature. Kingsley immediately drew his wand, only to be wandlessly disarmed by Hermione. Most of the group had stood and was either trying to get there wands out or was backing away. Xeno was looking at his daughter in horror.

"STOP!" Harry yelled, causing everyone to freeze. "Yes, Luna is now a vampire, BUT, she still has her soul. We don't quite know why or how but she is still the girl you all know."

Luna had shrunk back as the group backed away from her, the tears in her eyes evident. Xeno gulped and looked at his daughter. Taking a hesitant step forward he looked deep into the cat like eyes.

"Luna? Is that still my little Luna?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes Daddy, it's still me." She replied in a hesitant voice.

"Oh Luna, what happened to you?" he asked as he brought her into his arms and enveloped her in a big hug. Luna cried into her father's embrace. "Oh Daddy, I thought you would not want me anymore." She sniffled.

"Luna, as long as it's you, I don't care what you look like. But can you tell me what happened?" he asked.

"Yes, I think we would all want to know that" Professor McGonagall said. Everyone sat down once more and Hermione returned Kingsley's wand. He told them about the trip to the Ministry and how they defeated Thicknesse and Umbridge. He then told them about the journey to the Bulgarian ministry and there subsequent trip to Castle Dracule. They were all shocked when he told them that they had killed the Lord and Lady, although he did not tell them how. Only a few knew about their immortality and that was the way it was going to stay. Xeno was furious when it was explained how his daughter was turned but was mightily relieved when they explained that she was still warm and still had her soul.

"But how is that possible?" Bill asked. "When a person is turned the soul moves on, that is the way it had always been."

"We don't know Bill, but it has been confirmed by a Vampire specialist in Bulgaria that Luna is indeed still Luna." Harry told him.

"But what about feeding her?" Bill asked.

"Well she can drink donated blood, the specialist showed both Hermione and I how to donate some of ours. However if she offers to share some cake with you, my advice would be to refuse." He said prompting both Luna and Hermione to burst out laughing.

Everyone smiled at the trio in some confusion, Bill was still not happy with the reply though.

"Harry, the first meal that a new Vampire takes has to be live blood." Bill insisted. Harry glared at the curse-breaker.

"It was fine Bill, she fed of me the first time." Harry grated.

"But..." Bill began but Fleur put her arm on her husband's hand. "Bill, leave it!" she told him. Bill looked at the beautiful eyes of the Veela and then back at the now glowing eyes of Harry. Instinct and self preservation told him to leave the conversation. With a mumbles apology he dropped the point. Harry carried on telling them that as soon as the Lord and Lady died then all of the other Vampires died; all that is except Luna.

"Wow!" Fred said in awe.

"Awesome!" George echoed.

"Thank you boys!" Professor McGonagall told the twins with a small grin. "What's the next step Harry?"

"Well that's the problem Headmistress. We suspect that Tom has one more Horcrux but neither of us knows what it could be, or where to look." Harry said.

"What about Miss Lovegood's sight?" the headmistress asked.

Luna looked up with her new eyes. "Sorry Minerva, but when I was turned I lost my sight. I cannot help find the last one."

"Shit! Okay why don't you list the ones you have got, then maybe we can find a pattern."

"Okay, well first was Riddle's diary, destroyed that in the second year. Second was Marvolo Gaunts Ring, Professor Dumbledore destroyed that one. Third was Slytherin's locket, Hermione and I destroyed that the other day. Fourth was Ravenclaw's diadem, Hermione saw to that one you were there remember, and lastly the cup that is on the table."

"Harry I thought you said there were seven in total. You have mentioned five, and you say that there is one left but that only makes six. What is the seventh?" Molly Weasley asked in a subdued voice.

"That's simple Molly, the seventh was me!" Harry said.

"WHAT?" Molly yelled.

"Don't worry Molly, it's gone now, but when Tom killed my parents and tried to kill me part of his magic rebounded and created a Horcrux in my head. When the events in the **tent** occurred.." he said emphasising the use of the word tent, so that Mrs Weasley would understand what he was referring to. "... that allowed us to remove the Horcrux. So now there is only the one left we think. So has anyone any ideas of what it may be?" he asked.

Everyone sat in thought and after a while, Minerva stood and conjured a blackboard. She wrote the six Horcrux's that had been found far.

"Okay, it looks like Tom likes items of historical value, with the exception of the diary, which was personnel to him and off course Harry….although the way things are going you ARE of historical significance." She said with a wry smile, "Can I assume that you were an accident?"

Harry laughed out loud causing the elder witch to blush. "You know what I mean!"

"Yes Ma'am I think we can assume that I was an accident." He said with a warm smile.

"Yes well, so he likes historical items….."

"What about his familiar?" Tonks interrupted. "You know that sodding snake."

"Yeah we asked that, but it seems that only a moron would make a Horcrux out of a living creature, far too easy to kill or remove."

"Only a moron? Ok so the question still stands." Tonks replied with a cheeky grin.

"Who did you ask Harry?" Remus asked him curiously.

"Good question and he may be able to help…Fawkes? Where are you; you mangy bird?" he asked the sky. With a flash the phoenix appeared and flew around the room before landing on Harry's head heavily.

" _Mangy bird? You cheeky bugger! I'll give you mangy bird!"_

"Can it dick-wad." He told the phoenix, much to the astonishment of the gathered group.

"Harry! How can you call this magnificent creature such a crude name?" Molly asked him.

" _See, the red haired strumpet thinks I'm magnificent!"_ Fawkes said in both Harry's and Hermione's head. Surprisingly Luna could also hear the phoenix, evident by her sudden laugh at the creature's address of Mrs Weasley.

Raising an eyebrow at the pretty vampire; Harry replied to Mrs Weasley. "Don't let his mystique fool you; the bloody bird is a nightmare, rude and irritating. And if you knew what he just called you, you wouldn't be so nice about him." Fawkes laughed in his head, the rest hearing a trilling song that spoke of laughter and humour.

" _Enough of this, how may I be of help my Lord Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Slytherin-Emrys-Potter?" the phoenix asked in a sarcastic tone._

"Please help us oh mighty bird, we need help working out what the final Horcrux is?" Harry asked with a grin.

The phoenix was suddenly serious as he looked at the group. _"Harry, Hermione and Luna I do believe. I'm very sorry but I do not know what the last one is. I had hoped that Luna's sight would survive the turning process, but I see that this is not the case."_

"Bugger, what about your previous master, would he know?" Hermione asked, whilst Harry told the others what the phoenix had said.

" _Yes he would know."_

"Well can we speak to him?" Harry asked.

" _Sorry, but he cannot come to this plane for a long while. Apparently it is your task."_ The phoenix told them.

"Well it was worth a shot, thanks anyway Fawkes."

" _No problem…..knob-head!"_

"Shit for brains!" Harry called out with a grin as the bird flames away. Looking at the group who had a mixture of grins (the twins, Remus and Tonks), shock (the rest of the Weasley's) and bemusement (everyone else) on their faces. "Sorry, he cannot help; apparently I'm on my own."

Dobby and Winky popped in with refreshments whilst everyone took in the information, and after a while Professor McGonagall returned to her board.

"Okay, so let's take the historical route, nearly all of them have something to do with the Founders, so what is left?"

"Godric's sword!" Ginny shouted out.

"Sorry Gin, but we already have that and it's defiantly not a Horcrux." Harry told her to her disappointment.

"What about Ravenclaw's wand, it's supposed to very powerful and Ollivander was supposed to have it." Bill asked.

Hermione withdrew her ultimate grandmothers wand and waved it around causing sparks to form at the end. "You mean this one? Sorry but it's also not a Horcrux."

"Wow, you have it, how come?" Bill asked.

"Ollivander left it to me, and before anyone asks we also know it's not Merlin's staff…." As she spoke Harry clicked his fingers causing the old staff to appear in his hand. "… cos Harry has that one."

There was a stunned silence as they looked at the staff in Harry hand.

"Is that?..." Minerva asked.

"Yeah, it's my great-great-great Grandfathers staff with a whole load more greats added; and no it's not a Horcrux." Harry said with a smile.

"OOOOkay – moving on. So it's not the sword, staff or wand. What else can we think of?"

"What about Godric's Helmet? It is supposed to be kept in the department of mysteries, but no one has seen it for years." Charlie asked.

"Good, that's a possibility." Minerva said, writing on the board. "Anything else?"

"Er sorry but I don't think it could be the helmet." Tonks said.

"Why do you say that Tonks?" she asked.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong but the way to activate a Horcrux is to use it for its original purpose, such as wearing the diadem or writing in a diary?" she asked as Ginny shuddered at the memory of Tom's diary.

"Yes, that's what we think Tonks." Hermione told the purple haired witch.

"Well I'm sorry but according to folk-law in the Aurors department, Mad-eye found it one day when he was a young man and wore it around the department before the Unspeakables found him. There was hell to pay, but he didn't become a new Voldyshorts."

"Damm! So that's off." The headmistress said as she stuck of the item form the board. "So can anyone think of any other Founder's artefacts?" she asked the group. There was a long pause before she asked,

"Ok, what about other historical figures?"

"Merlin?" Fred mentioned.

"Well Harry has the staff, other than that I cannot think of anything else." Hermione said.

"Ok, what about King Arthur?" George said.

"Well the only think is…no! He wouldn't? Would he?" Hermione said in a whisper.

"What?" Harry asked her.

"It's been lost for centuries….surely not!" she said in a daze.

"What!?" Harry said again.

Hermione looked at him with a worried expression before she sent the image to his head. Harry paled and gulped.

Before she could explain there was a loud disturbance outside the room.

"I must see Lord Potter!" came the shout from a familiar voice.

"He is not to be disturbed!" they heard Dobby tell the visitor. There was the sound of a brief scuffle before the door burst open and Griphook came in dragging an annoyed Dobby who was holding onto his leg.

"Griphook? What's the matter? Dobby let go of Griphook!" Harry asked.

"Lord Potter, we are in need of your help. Deatheaters are attacking Diagon alley, and they have the audacity to attack Gringotts. We are holding them off for the moment, but Lord Ragnok has asked me to tell you that Tom is with them."

There was a long pause as this information was absorbed before Harry quickly stood and took charge.

"Okay, Minerva can you return to Hogwarts to inform Poppy to expect incoming injured, Mrs Weasley can you go with her to help with possible injured. Tonks you will have to stay here, you are too pregnant to fight. The rest prepare to fight, unless anyone cannot come with us?"

Fleur raised a hand. "Yes Fleur." Harry asked the blonde Veela.

"Sorry, we weren't going to mention it yet, but I cannot fight; I am pregnant. I will go with Professor McGonagall to help at the infirmary."

Mrs Weasley squealed at the news but the congratulations would have to wait, as Harry created a portkey for the others and within seconds they were all whisked away to the fight.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

 _Earlier in Diagon Alley._

It was much busier in the alley than in recent days. It seemed that the lack of attacks had lulled the magical population into a false sense of security, and whilst it wasn't the usual happy place of yesteryear, the street was full of the noise of people shopping, talking and going about their business. All that was shattered when with a loud bag over forty Deatheaters appeared in the Alley accompanied by over a hundred Dementors. There was a short moment of silence as they masses eyed the intruders before the screaming started. The Deatheaters were casting killing curses like they were going out of fashion, and the Dementors were mopping up anyone that the curses missed. The carnage was terrible to behold, the only saving grace was that it was during term time, and with Hogwarts a much safer place now many children were away from the alley. However there were still younger children with their parents caught in the crossfire. Many were running for cover in the shops and trying to apparate away, but the wards that Voldemort had cast made this impossible, The Goblins at Gringotts had flung open the doors and were herding as many of the public into the bank as they could whilst fighting the Deatheaters. Goblins were not allowed to use wands, so they favoured swords; very sharp and long swords that inflicted terrible damage on whomever they cut. This however was a problem as they needed to get close to their prey and killing curses could be cast from a distance. Many Goblins died on this day in defence of the Wizarding word, and in years to come it would be remembered as the day the goblins and the humans fought as one. Some of the wizards had joined the Goblins in the defence as the public ran. In the middle of all of this Lord Voldemort stood and basked in the terror and death. He hadn't cast a single curse apart from the anti-apperation wards and was enjoying his minions work and watching the burning buildings within the street.

Suddenly another group appeared with Harry Potter at the head. With a loud cry Harry waved Merlin's staff and forcibly removed the wards that Voldemort had cast. This caused the evil wizard to cry out in pain before collapsing as his wards were cast away. Bellatrix rushed to his side and tried to help him up. Meanwhile Harry raised his voice and shouted.

"The wards are down, everyone get out of here now! Patronuses now!" and all the new defenders that could, cast powerful Patronus charms, with Harry's Stag and Hermione's Doe the largest and the most powerful. They made quick work of the Dementors; either killing them or driving the majority away until they fled into the sky. It all happened so quickly that the majority of the Deatheaters were still fighting the Goblins and failed to notice that their other defence had fled; however they soon noticed and turned to face the new threat. The fight was quick and intense with killing curses from the army of dark and cutting curses from the light. Luckily the Deatheaters were poorly trained and none of the killing curses hit home. One of the Deatheaters had crept up behind Luna and quickly pounced on her. He held his wand to her head.

"STOP or she's dead Potter." He yelled. Harry turned and smiled at Luna who had raised her eyebrows into her hairline. She reached up her hand and grabbed the man's arm, quickly breaking the bones with her new strength. He screamed in pain and them in terror as he saw her fangs elongate. This was the last thing he saw as he felt her plunge them into his exposed neck, drinking his blood.

Harry had to stop this quickly, they had been lucky so far but that was sure to run out once Voldemort regained his strength and whilst he was a lot more powerful than the last time he had faced the monster, until they had destroyed all of his Horcrux's he did not want to face the wizard and give away his advantage too soon.

"STOP! IF YOU THROW YOUR WANDS DOWN NOW YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!" Harry yelled. The Deatheater's looked at each other before one on them laughed.

"There are still over thirty of us and less than a dozen of you. Why should we not kill you all now?" he asked in a brave voice.

"Good question..." before Harry had time to answer a killing curse was flung his way, causing him to duck and it flew harmlessly over his head, narrowly missing Kingsley.

"Well if that's your answer..." he held up the staff and felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder lending him her power as well as his own. Suddenly an intense bolt of yellow light flew out of it, impacting the Deatheater in the chest. It quickly spread creating tendrils of Yellow light that impacted on the chest of every Deatheater present. They all opened there mouths in a silent scream before they all glowed yellow and exploded in a shower of golden sparks. There was total silence as the after effects of the blast were felt. By now Voldemort had recovered and was on his feet. He too was astonished by the magic he had just witnessed and the only Deatheater left alive was Bella who was helping him to his feet. He shook of her hold and faced his immortal enemy.

"Hello Tom! You are not looking well, not getting enough sleep are you?" Harry drawled. As he looked at the evil wizard in the eyes he sent out a powerful Legilimency spell, entering Voldemort's mind with a violent wrench. He trawled through the memories of the wizard, trying his very best not to vomit at some of them, until he found the one he wanted. As soon as he had the information he withdrew and smiled at the man. All this had taken microseconds and he could tell that, whilst Voldemort knew something had occurred he was unsure as to what.

"Potter! It seems that the rumours of your death were exaggerated."

"Seems so Tom, do you want to do this now or later?" he asked raising the staff in his hand. Voldemort paled at the sight of the staff and for the first time in a very long while the evil wizard felt fear. He needed to regroup before he could finally teach this whelp and his whore the power of true magic. With a grimace he held Bella and both fled the alley. Harry looked around at the carnage, there must be over thirty dead, he thought to himself. As he surveyed the surroundings Hermione had sprung into action, creating a small triage area. Those seriously injured were port-keyed to Hogwarts, Hermione's heritage allowing her to bypass the castle impressive wards. Those less seriously injured were sent to Gringotts were a team of Goblin healers were treating them. Some of the Goblins had turned fire-fighters and were been aided by the group that Harry had brought in bringing the fires under control. The dead were sent also to Gringotts to lie in state until the funerals could be arranged. Luna finally dropped her lunch and wiped her mouth, before helping to carry the dead and injured. Finally Harry came out of his funk and approached his wife.

"What's the totals love?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Thirty three dead, nine of which were children." She said in a pained voice. "Seventeen seriously injured, but expected to recover. Three were not sure about, and twenty three walking wounded. Of our group only Kingsley was hurt by a stray cutting curse, but it's nothing serious. Madam Malkins has been seriously damaged by fire, but no one was hurt as they all managed to get out of the back. The Goblins managed to get over a hundred into the bank and over two hundred fled once you brought down the wards. It could have been a lot worse Harry, we did good, you did good."

"But Thirty three dead!" he whispered, the tears present in his eyes.

"Harry we saved hundreds and seriously wounded Tom's army. Concentrate on that my love." She said kissing gently. He held her in his arms for a few minutes before he remembered what he had found out from Tom's mind.

"Oh and you were right about the last Horcrux Mione." He told her. "I managed to grab the memory from his mind before he fled. There is no doubt about its identity. The last Horcrux is the missing sword of King Arthur; Excalibur."

"Bugger!"


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty – Problems.**

It was late into the night before they managed to get away from the alley. They had spent many hours helping to treat the wounded and trying to sort out the mess that the fight had created. A few Aurors had appeared well after the fighting had finished; but it turned out that the Ministry was in total disarray since the death of Thicknesse. It was apparent that the new Minister of Magic was a Death Eater; indeed he seemed pleased to flaunt it. However he had little power as most of the government had fled, leaving only a handful of toadies and boot-lickers to do his bidding. The few Aurors left were corrupt and were possible Death Eaters themselves and were quickly stunned by the members of Harry's group when they arrived and tried to arrest Harry and Hermione.

As they arrived back at Potter Cottage with a small 'pop' Harry looked at the group with him. Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Ginny and Kingsley had returned to Hogwarts, but the rest had come back with him. They all looked shattered but proud of the work they had done.

"Well, it's late. Can I suggest that we try to get some sleep and we will continue our earlier discussion in the morning?" Harry said.

Everyone nodded and wearily left to get some sleep. Hermione was however still wired from the adrenaline that was still flooding her system.

"You - bed now!" she growled at him, dragging him up to their room. She practically ripped his clothes of and proceeded to ride him for all she was worth. The air was thick with the smell of sex and ozone as her magic played around the room. Eventually after their fifth coupling Hermione was sated and the two sweaty teens were cuddling in the ruined bed.

"I love you Harry!" she said simply.

"I know!" Harry replied before kissing her lower lip. "Now get some sleep, you animal!"

Touching one of her Animagus forms, she actually caused her eyes to become slitted like a cats and long fangs grew in her mouth.

"You better believe it Mister!" she growled at him before allowing her features return to normal. Soon the pair were fast asleep in each other's arms.

They woke the following morning feeling sticky and much happier that the night before, and after a long shower they made their way down to breakfast. Molly and Arthur were sat at the kitchen table drinking tea and the twins were making bacon sandwiches. Winky was trying to shoo everyone away from the cooker but was hindered by Crookshanks who seemed to of taken a shine to the diminutive elf and was constantly winding himself around her legs.

"Morning you two, How are you both this morning?" Molly asked as she poured them a cup each.

"Well thank you Molly. Where are the others?" Hermione asked, aware that she could sense the other magical signatures within the house but trying to make conversation.

"Well Bill and Fleur are still in bed, Fleur is feeling sick due to her pregnancy. Charlie is outside exercising. Luna and her father are chatting in the lounge. I don't think Luna slept last night, I'm not even sure if she needs to sleep anymore. Anyway Remus and Tonks are somewhere resting; Tonks went to Hogwarts to help treat the wounded and she and Fleur didn't get back from Hogwarts that long ago. The rest are still at Hogwarts."

"Okay, we have some news about the last Horcrux. I know what it is now, only problem is where." Harry said. "We could use some help with it."

"Okay, I'll round everyone up after breakfast and we can discuss it." Molly said excitedly.

Meanwhile Luna was trying to convince her father not to do something stupid.

"Dad, you cannot do it!" she said in an exasperated voice.

"Why not pumpkin, it would make a great front cover story. ' _My Daughter, the Vampire with a soul!'_ Just imagine the headline with your picture on the front cover." Xeno said with a mad smile.

"Dad! You're not listening. People do not like Vampire, souls or otherwise. I am going to have enough problems in the future with people's petty prejudices as it is without my picture plastered all over the front of our newspaper. I have to drink blood for Merlin's sake; Human blood! When I was in Romania I said I would never drink from another human, but as soon as I was presented with that Death Eater, I couldn't help myself. Face it Dad, I am a killer, an evil killer and I will probably kill again." She said sadly.

Xenophilius looked at his sad daughter, her cat like eyes leaking tears as she spoke. Pulling his threads of sanity together he took a deep breath.

"Luna, are Harry and Hermione evil?" he asked.

"No Daddy, off course not, they are the best people I have ever met." She replied with some feeling.

"Well as far as I remember they killed over thirty Death Eaters yesterday using the talents that they had. You killed one using your talents. The very fact you're sat here with tears falling down your face tells me that you still have a good soul and you are a good person." He told her gently. "Do you feel the urge to drink my blood, or Molly's or Arthurs? Or any of your friends?" he asked her.

"No of course not!" she said indignantly.

"Well then, it's just the same as Harry and Hermione. They don't go around killing people just because the can; and you don't go around feeding off people. You used your talents to kill an enemy in a war that does not make you a bad person. And you are right about the paper, it was a silly idea. Your just getting used to been a Vampire, last thing you need is people pointing at you or been afraid."

Luna smiled at her father and hugged him close to her. "Thank you Daddy, for everything." She was silent for a while before asking. "Do you think Mummy would be happy for me?" she asked in a small voice.

"Luna darling, your mother is very proud of everything you have done, and the way in which you have lived your life, and the friends you have made." Xenophilius said with a sad smile.

"I love you Daddy!" she said in a little girl voice.

"And I love you too Luna! Now do you think Molly will have breakfast ready, I'm starving!" and almost as soon as he said, it, sensible Xenophilius disappeared and the slightly mad Xeno returned.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Voldemort was furious and if he was a little honest with himself, he was also afraid. Never before had he suffered such a humiliating defeat. He had lost over thirty of his Death Eaters; a substantial number that depleted his forces considerably when the loss of the Vampires was factored in. 'Where had the whelp got the staff of Merlin from?' He mused to himself, whilst he tortured another nameless Death Eater. 'And how come the staff seemed to work for him; does this mean that Potter is...No impossible!' he mused to himself.

"Er My Lord." A small voice said, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Yes Wormtail?"

"He's dead my lord."

"Who's dead you miserable rat?"

"The man you were torturing my Lord." Peter said in a frightened voice.

Voldemort looked up and was surprised to see the Death Eater had long since died. He broke the curse and body stopped twitching. How had he lost his train of thought so easily? What was happening to him? He had never felt so weak before as he did now and it frightened him.

"Wormtail, remove the carcass, feed it too Nagini. Leave me! Everyone out of here NOW!" he ordered. He needed to think and come up with a plan. Once he was alone he allowed himself to slump in his chair and pass a weary hand over his face. He knew that if all the evidence was correct that he only had one Horcrux left – the sword Excalibur. It took him years to find its resting place and once found he moved the item to a safe location, one where no one would think to look. That said that fact that Potter had the staff of Merlin worried him, only a direct descendant of Merlin himself could wield the staff and if he could do that could he find the sword. More to the point could Potter really have enough power to kill him. He needed to stop him and soon, but if he couldn't stop Potter directly, then maybe he could cause him so much emotional pain that he would become weak. He knew that Harry placed a huge importance on his friends and family, the death of Black was proof enough of that, so maybe the death of another friend of his would help. Maybe the death of the Mudblood whore would demoralise Harry so much that he would be easier to kill? His mind made up, he made his plans to kill Hermione Granger.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Serverus Snape was stood in line at Heathrow airport, a faked passport reading Stephen Prince and an economy ticket to Cancun in his hand. He thanked his Muggle father for the first time in his life for his knowledge of the Muggle world. As the line inched forward Serverus thought back over his life. He was a killer and he enjoyed killing. The feeling as he snuffed out the life of the young Hufflepuff was exquisite and he wanted more, but he was also a coward. He valued his own life above all others hence his fleeing. Once he got to Mexico however he intended the find the magical community there and rule it with a fist of iron. Tom Riddle had better watch out because Serverus Snape would be back. Now had he packed his suntan cream, he wondered?

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Once more Harry and his wife were sat in the dining room surrounded by family and friends. It was only nine o'clock in the morning but even with classes at Hogwarts; the presence of Professor McGonagall, Poppy Pomfrey, Filius Flitwick and Ginny Weasley was testament to the importance of the meeting. Breakfast had been a rowdy affair even with Luna's new meal of blood on cornflakes, this time the blood was supplied by Hermione and Luna had stated that hers was a little sweeter than Harry's, much to the amusement/disgust of the remainder of the group. "Mmm, I love blood and cornflakes!" she stated with a happy grin. Everyone looked at the purple eyed Vampire before Harry continued.

"Ok, first things first, how are the injured from yesterday's attack?" Harry asked.

Poppy Pomfrey looked up and smiled a sad smile, so like Harry to be concerned for others. "They are all doing well, the two of the three that we were really worried about are out of danger, although it will be a long recovery."

"And the other?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

"Harry, I'm sorry but his injuries were just too severe. He passed last night." She said quietly.

Harry closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them he looked a lot older than his years allowed. "Who was it?" he asked.

"Gerald Abbott, Hannah's father." She replied in a weary voice. There was silence at the news. Everyone knew the pretty Hufflepuff girl, and their thoughts were with her and her mother at the moment. Hermione turned to Harry and took his hands.

"It wasn't your fault Harry. You didn't attack Diagon Alley and of hadn't of gone there many others would be missing loved ones today." She said in a determined voice. Harry held her close and briefly let his grief out before wiping his eyes and sitting back up in his chair.

"Yes Mrs Potter is correct Harry; Hannah's mother was one of the ones you saved. Hannah has asked to see you to express her thanks for saving her mother and trying to save her father. She was most insistent that you come to Hogwarts this afternoon to see her." Professor McGonagall said. "Will you come?" she asked in a desperate voice.

Harry looked at his wife and she nodded discreetly to him. "Yes we will come, we need to check some stuff in the library and talk to Cassie anyway. We will accompany you after the meeting."

"I need to go as well Harry." Luna spoke with a determined expression. Luna was sat next to her father and Ginny who was looking at her friend with a curious expression. They had not had much chance to chat since Luna's turning and Ginny was aware that the conversation was overdue. She had spoken to her mother about the situation and was determined for Luna to know that she was going to abandon her friend just because she was a Vampire now. Luna seemed to know that Ginny was thinking about her and looked over at her friends and smiled, her fangs peeking through her mouth as she did so.

"And the rest of the dead?" Harry asked.

"Mainly shoppers and the like although there was an ex-Auror killed. He was trying to stop the Death Eaters but no one was helping him."

"Sod it! We need to stop Voldemort and soon, the world is getting more fucked-up with every passing day. And with that in mind we now know what the last Horcrux is. That was the only good thing to come out of yesterday. I was able to grab the knowledge from Tom's head."

Everyone took as gasp, not only as the knowledge that Harry knew what the last Horcrux was, but that he had the power to get it from one of the most powerful dark wizards that there ever had lived.

"Well what is it Harry?"Remus asked.

"Oh yeah, the last Horcrux is the sword of Merlin, it's Excalibur!" Harry said

There was a moment of absolute silence before everyone started talking at once; shouting, exclaiming and talking to each other. Eventually everyone calmed down.

"Are you sure Harry?" Remus asked.

"Yeah 'fraid so."

"Please tell us you know where the item is because no one else knows where it is. It's been missing for centuries." He asked in a hopeful voice. Harry grimaced at this statement.

"Not exactly. I was able to see a large block of stone with the sword embedded in it. It was on a small island in the middle of a lake, but beyond that...nothing!"

"Bugger!" Tonks said. "So how we gonna find it Harry?" she asked.

Harry looked at Hermione with a grin. "We unleash our secret weapon...Hermione power! That's why we need to go to the library at Hogwarts." He said with a mischievous grin, earning himself a thump on the arm from Hermione. Everyone else laughed at their antics despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Ow! Hey don't bruise the hero!" he whined. Hermione laughed and kissed him briefly.

"Well, yes the library may help but we are also hoping that Cassie may remember some snippet of information from the times of the Founders. After all they were born near to Merlin's time. Plus there is a good chance that Godric is related to Arthur."

Minerva eyebrows raised at the news, if this was indeed true then that would mean that Harry was also related to King Arthur, he would have a double right to the sword of kings. Harry looked at her and gently shook his head. Even if it was true, he did not want that responsibility. The Headmistress glared at him, this 'conversation' was not over and Harry could expect a more in-depth one later.

"Ok, so if you find the sword, how the hell are you going to destroy it to remove the Horcrux? Legend has it that the sword is indestructible." Remus asked.

Harry looked at the group looking at him with expectant expression. He smiled and said – "Buggered if I know!" everyone groaned.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

In a small clearing of ancient trees, a rough block of old granite stood. The clearing was in a small forest that made up the entirety of the little island that stood in the middle of a vast lake. However to the onlooker the island was invisible, both to the naked eye and to a magical scan. The wind rustled the leaves of the branches as they overlooked the large block of stone. Embedded into the stone, point first was a large sword, its silver blade totally untarnished, as was the golden handle complete with deep red rubies fixed to the pommel. Ancient writing could be seen on the shaft of the blade, written in a language that only two people in the whole world could read. However there was also an aura of darkness surrounding the blade, a dark shadow that tried to possess the ancient magic of the sword. The sword resisted the evil, but could not completely throw it off. As the sun moved across the sky the trees rustled and a figure moved into the clearing. The figure, clothed in a deep blue cloak pushed back the hood exposing the face of a beautiful woman. Her face was young and old at the same time, a timeless beauty that had witnessed many seasons come and go. She thought back to when her old lover and father of her two children had returned the blade to the lake, prompting her to catch the blade as it returned to the lake. She had moved it to the stone it now stood in and began her long vigil. She had seen the evil one come move the sword to a new location; she had moved with it, she had to for she was linked to the sword through ties of blood. So long as there was a lake she could exist and the evil one had moved the sword to this little island in the middle of a large lake. Once he had moved the sword he then cast his evil magic over the sword, killing a young girl that he had brought with him as he did so. She could have stopped him but knew that the event had to happen. She was not the one destined to destroy the evil one, so she had sadly let it happen. Before he left he then cast the invisibility spell that removed the island from view and also the Fidelius charm that stopped people from remembering the island. Once he had gone she had buried the body of the girl and grieved for her. Nimue knew that the time of redemption was fast approaching and knew her part that she had to play.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The small group appeared in Great Hall with an almost silent pop. Harry and Hermione had used their Founders magic to silently appear within the confines of the castle, the magical wards not affecting them.

"Well that was ...different." Professor McGonagall said with a grin, making her look years younger. Harry laughed at the look on her face before turning serious. He looked around the Hall, surprised to see that it had a few students studying. Minerva saw his confusion and smiled. "Well with myself and Filius with you some of the students were given a free period. We have been using the Hall as a study centre recently, it allows students from different houses to study together; plus they all feel safer here for some reason."

The few students were staring, open mouthed at the group apart from one girl who was currently running full speed towards them.

"HHHHAAAAAARRRRRRYYYYYY!" she yelled as Charlotte flung herself at her saviour, kissing him full on the lips as she did so.

"Sorry, Aunt Mione but ... well no but just sorry, and well I'm not even that sorry!" she giggled as she tried to kiss Harry again. Harry was laughing at the look on Hermione's face.

"Aunt Mione? Where did that one come from Charlotte? And stop kissing my husband, and Harry stop letting her."

Finally Charlotte stopped her assault on Harry and managed to look a little contrite, the effect totally spoilt by the grin playing around on her lips. "Well if Cassie is your daughter and I am her sister, then that would make you also my mother, but since I have one of those I made you my Aunt."

Harry was laughing as he looked at his wife trying to work her mind around the logic of the statement. Finally she looked at the girl. "If that is true then doesn't that make Harry your Uncle, and if that's the case then kissing him that way is just wrong."

"Nah, Harry's my Husband!" she said with a laugh before kissing him once more and running back to the Hufflepuff table, her hair streaming behind her as she ran and laughing as she went.

"Husband? Why the little minx!" Hermione said much to everyone's amusement. "Come on Harry, Luna we need to go to the library and look up Excalibur, but before that we had better go and see Hannah." She said with an annoyed but still amused look.

"Er Can you give me and Ginny a moment please." Luna said. "I'll catch you both up in the library."

Hermione and Harry nodded and looked at the headmistress.

"She is in the Infirmary" she told them.

Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing, both turning to leave in the company of the healer.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick left to get back to work whilst Luna took hold of Ginny's hand, who flinched at first before allowing herself to be dragged to the end of the one of the tables.

"Ginny, talk to me. What's the problem?" Luna said.

"Luna, what do you want me to say?" she asked.

"Well I can tell you are uncomfortable with me now, is it because I am a Vampire?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"No not really. I mean at first I was scared but now that I have spent time with you no. I think my main problem is everything is changing and I don't where I fit in anymore. I mean I loved Harry, and I mean I really loved him, still do truth be told; I thought we could have a future together and everything. I then learn that he is immortal and married to Hermione and for one moment I really hated her. Really hated her for taking my future from me, but then I saw them together and well... who could hate what they have, they are perfect for each other. And now you, my first and best friend is an immortal Vampire, you will never grow old and I will age and wither away. What am I supposed to do with my life, I am a nothing, a no one with no role to play." Ginny said, the tears rolling down her face as she spoke.

Luna was shocked by the emotional outburst she was witnessing and took hold of her friend's hand.

"Ginny, you are not a no-one of a nothing, you are my best friend and Vampire or not I still need you. I cannot help the fact that I was turned, it was fated to happen, and there are dark days ahead of us, but you are a ray of light in the dark. Harry and Hermione love you as does your entire family, and I know for a fact that there is someone special out there for you. Someone we both know and he will love you and your children with a passion."

"Who Luna?" Ginny asked despite herself.

Luna grinned at her friend, her fangs showing slightly, but before they could say anything they both felt a number of people arrive at the table. Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Parvati Patil and Neville Longbottom all sat down with a thump at the table.

"Ginny, how you doing?" Dean asked, before looking up at Luna. "Bloody 'ell Luna what happened to you?" he asked.

Luna smiled at the group aware that fear may be a problem, but happy that the man Ginny would spend the rest of her life with was present. "Well, I am a world's first; I am the only Vampire with a soul." She said as she allowed her fangs to elongate. Parvati screamed a little whilst most of the others shield back from her. That was apart from one that only had eyes for the red-haired girl sat next to her. "Don't worry, I am still Luna, and I don't need to feed on humans, but I am a little different from the old Luna."

"Wow.. I mean wow!" Seamus said. "That's so cool!" he muttered.

"Hi Ginny, how are you?" a voice asked, unaware of the conversation around him.

Luna just smiled to herself. 'At last' she thought.

"Hi Neville" Ginny replied shyly.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry and Hermione followed the Healer up to the Infirmary in silence that was until Hermione thought to ask a question that had been bothering her.

"Er Madam Pomfrey, why is Hannah in the Infirmary? She wasn't hurt was she?"

"No Hermione, but she was very upset and collapsed when she heard the news. She banged her head and we felt that the privacy of the Infirmary would be appreciated. Her friend Susan is with her, keeping her company."

They all arrived at the Infirmary and Madam Pomfrey showed Harry and Hermione to the private room that Hannah had been using. Knocking gently on the door, Harry pushed it open and looked inside. Hannah was fast asleep on the bed with Susan Bones barely covered with a thin sheet, both girls were cuddling each other in a fairly intimate way.

"Er Mione, can you go in first." He said as he popped his head back out of the room, his face bright red. Hermione looked confused until she poked her head around the door. She looked back at the blushing wizard and grinned at him. "Oh Harry! Don't be such a prude!" she said in amusement as she entered the room. She walked over to the couple, it was clear that they were both naked under the covers that only covered there lower halves and the room smelt of sex. Whilst it wasn't common in the Wizarding world it wasn't unheard of for a couple of witches to get together, and it was clear that Susan and Hannah were very good friends.

"Suse, Hannah. It's Hermione, time to wake up now." She gently told the pair, whilst touching their shoulders. Hannah slowly began to wake but Susan quickly opened her eyes, a worried look in them. She relaxed a little when she saw Hermione stood in front of her, but quickly blushed as she realised her predicament.

"Oh Hermione thank Merlin it's you!" she said.

"Susan, don't worry. I'm sure that Poppy would be discreet, after all you are both old enough now and in a private room."

"Thanks Hermione, I've loved her for years and not said anything, but she looked so sad and vulnerable, and I just hugged her and well one thing led to another, and well you can see the rest."

"And she was brilliant!" Hannah said from the bed. "She was there for me when I needed her the most and I love her for it. Hermione is Harry with you?" she asked.

"Yeah Hannah, he outside been very embarrassed." Hermione told her with a grin.

"Embarrassed why? Because of us been together?" Susan asked.

"No I don't think so, I think it's because there was rather more skin showing that he was expecting." She said with a laugh as the pair looked down upon their ...pairs.

"Oh, how embarrassing. I wanted to thank Harry for saving my mum and trying to save my dad, not expose myself to him!" Hannah said, a deep blush spreading across her face and chest. She rummaged around in the bed and found two t-shirts that both the girls put on, and they were straightening themselves up when a tentative knock on the door was heard and a small voice said – "Can I come in yet?"

Hermione stifled a giggle, her hero was not scared of the most evil wizard in the world but two half naked girls terrified him.

"Yes Harry you can come in now." Hannah shouted.

Harry entered the room, his face bright red. "Er Hi!" he mumbled.

"Harry, come in. What's the matter, you don't have a problem with Sue and I been together do you?" Hannah asked in a small voice.

"Merlin no, you make a great couple. I just wasn't prepared to see so much of the pair of yours... I mean you." He stuttered.

"Well Harry you are honoured. You are the only wizard who has ever seen our 'pairs' and we aim to keep it that way. With us both been female we have no need to marry to continue our line, the Abbott line is safe with my cousin and Bones line will be carried on as we plan to adopt as soon as we are old enough. The baby will be a 'Bones' to carry on the name. Now I need to thank you for saving my mum and for trying to save my..." she broke off as the grief once more struck her and Susan pulled her into a hug. Harry moved across the room and also hugged the distraught girl.

"Hey Han, its okay. I'm sorry I couldn't get there quick enough to save your dad." Harry told her.

"H-h-harry" she hiccupped. "It's not your fault, it's was sodding V-v-v...oh this is ridiculous. It's was Voldemort's fault that dad died not yours. You saved many others including my mum and the Abbott family is in your debt; not that you would ever call that debt in would you? You do know that if I was attracted to blokes you would be the only one I would ever consider. When I marry Sue, would you do me the honour of giving me away?" she asked.

"Marry me?" Susan asked in a surprised voice.

"Goddess yeah Sue, you don't think I'm letting you go after last night do you?" she asked her lover.

Harry meanwhile was stunned. "Miss Abbott, I would be honoured to give you away, and I promise to be a brother to you for as long as you want me, so mote it be!" he declared, A sudden glow encased the pair as the magic took hold and suddenly Hannah had a brother.

"Thank you Bro, you have no idea what that means to me." She said hugging him even harder.

"Never a dull moment eh Potter" Hermione giggled.

"Hey I guess that makes you my sister Hermione." Hannah said, as she pulled the witch into the group hug.

"An Auntie and a sister all in a few hours, whatever next Mione?" Harry asked her.

"Shut up Potter and hug me!" came the reply.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

"ARRGGGHHH SODDING BOOKS!" was the surprising shout from Hermione Potter. Harry, Hermione and Luna along with Ginny and Neville were all sat in the library surrounded by books. They had been at it for the last three hours and everyone was getting a little fraught.

"What's the matter Mione, it's not like you to get cross with books?" Harry asked his annoyed wife.

"Its bloody historians, they cannot seem to make up their minds. Look we know what happened to Excalibur when Arthur died, Merlin cast it back into the Lake and the Lady of the Lake caught it, presumably to return it to its block of stone. Problem is no one these days seems to know where the sodding lake it, I mean how can you lose an entire lake?"

"Okay what options do you have?" Ginny asked.

"Well so far historians think the lake could of been Dozmary Pool in Cornwall, near Bodmin; Llyn Llydaw or Llyn Ogwen, both in Wales near Snowden; The Loe also in Cornwall near Porthleven; a lake on the River Brue in Somerset called Pomparles Bridge; Llyn Du somewhere in Scotland, although no one is quite sure where in Scotland and sodding lake Aleines in bloody France!"*

"Great, any other idea as to where to start?" Harry asked in a resigned tone.

"Well I think we can dismiss the one in France for the moment, but all of the others have merit."

"Great so we have, what was it six? Yes six possible locations that we need to search. We really need to narrow it down. What else does history tell us?" Harry asked.

"Well according to the books, when Arthur died Merlin rode to the lake and cast the sword away, that would imply that the lake was within a short distance of where Camelot once stood. Problem with that is Merlin was a wizard and could just apparate to wherever the lake was. The one redeeming piece of information is that King Arthur as far as we know was not a wizard and he also visited the lake, so that does help. If we know the location of Camelot then we can narrow it down."

"So what do we know about the location of Camelot then?" Harry asked.

"Well a lot of people and books say that Camelot was located in Cornwall, in a place called Tintagel, however other reports have Camelot in Wales or Scotland."

"This is impossible! We need more help with this. Cassie!"

The seat across the table glowed and the young girl that represented the castle was suddenly sat there. Neville and Ginny gasped as they had not met the young girl yet.

"Daddy!" she yelled flinging herself at Harry.

"Whoa! What the hell?" Neville asked.

"Nev, sorry mate I forgot to warn you. This is Cassiopeia or Cassie for short, her other name is the Lady Hogwarts. The castle is alive and sentient due to generations of magical kids living and learning here. Cassie is the castle's representation of Hogwarts."

"Hi Lord Longbottom, what my esteemed Father is struggling to explain, is that whilst I am the castle, I am neither only a representation nor am I not real. I am alive and I am more or less human at the same time. I am also the 'daughter' of the Founders and since Harry and Hermione are the heirs to the Founders I am their daughter...sorta. I kinda adopted them." She said with a wry grin.

"Hello then Cassie, it's a pleasure to meet you. How come you are so young, I would of thought that Lady Hogwarts would be a little older, if you don't mind me asking." Neville asked.

"Ha, that's easy. When I first met these two I was an older person, timeless you may say, but since I adopted them and since they found me a sister, I find that I like this form better. It suits my needs better and it allows me to hug my 'parents'."

Harry and Hermione smiled at the young girl and she pulled Hermione into her embrace. All three smiled at each other as they hugged.

The three remained in the embrace for a little while before Ginny nervously cleared her throat.

"Oh sorry you two, just connecting with Mum and Dad. Ginny on behalf of Hogwarts I am sorry for what happened to you in your first year here. I tried so hard to help you, but the magic of the dark one was too strong for me. You were very brave and you resisted very hard. Hogwarts is proud of you."

Ginny looked surprised and nodded her thanks. Harry and Hermione retook their seats and Cassie looked at them with expectant eyes.

"Well, how can I help?" she finally asked.

"Cassie, we are trying to find the resting place of Merlin's sword, Excalibur. We have six possible locations for the lake, but they are spread all over the place. We figured that the lake would be near to the location of Camelot, but that also spreads us out thinly. We need some help."

"Hmm, from what I know Camelot was supposed to be in the Cornwall area, so I guess you should start with those first, but I may be wrong. Godric rarely spoke about his ancestors, don't forget King Arthur and Merlin was a long time before the Founders and even then Camelot had been missing for centuries."

"Ok, well I suppose we have to start there, I guess a visit to Cornwall is in order." Hermione stated. "Will you be able to tell if Excalibur is there or nor Harry?" she asked.

"I guess we will find out when we get there 'Mione"

"I think we should try Dozmary Pool first, it's the one that's closest to Tintagel" Hermione said.

"What can we be doing Harry?" Neville asked.

"Research and more research. You can contact us through Dobby if you find anything." He said to the pair.

"Well no time like the present is there?" Luna said with a wide grin.

 **A/N * All these lakes (with the exception of the one I have made up for the story) are real and all are supposed to have been the inspiration for the 'Lady of the Lake' story. Which one I have made up will be revealed later however, but you can work it out if you look online.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One – "We're going on a lake hunt!"**

"And on the left are the ancient ruins of Tintagel castle, supposedly the site of the fabled Camelot, home of King Arthur or Artur as he was known in those days and Merlin. We will be stopping here for two hours for you to explore..." The tour guide continued in her irritatingly happy voice explaining to the tourists the history of the place and where the bus would be parked.

"Remind me why we had to do it this way love?" Harry asked Hermione. They had all been sat on the coach for three hours as it made its tour of the sites of North Cornwall. Hermione had insisted that they join the party that consisted mainly of American and Australian tourists. Luna was sat behind them, a silly grin plastered on her face as she sat on the Muggle coach, her nose plastered to the glass window. They had already been' forced 'to visit a number of sites along the way, but now had arrived at their destination

"Because I didn't know where Tintagel is and this was the quickest way to find it. Come on we need to get off here."

They had drove from London the day before in a car that Harry had found in the garage of the cottage. It was an old 1960's Aston Martin DB5 that Hermione had said looked a lot like the car James Bond drove. Neither Luna nor Harry had any idea who James Bond was but Harry enjoyed driving the car. He had briefly wondered where the knowledge on how to drive had come from, but somehow that knowledge was in his head. They had arrived in the area late in the morning the day before and quickly drove to Dozmary Pool to check it out, but quickly dismissed it as a contender for the Lake. Harry could feel nothing through the Staff to suggest that it was the correct location and even with their immense magical skill they could find no sign of any island in the centre of the lake. They had also driven to the Loe and dismissed it also for the same reasons. Slightly defeated they stayed the night in a local hotel to discuss what to do next. It was here that Hermione had come up with the idea of visiting Tintagel to see if any clues could be found regarding the correct lake and had also suggested joining an organised tour.

"But why didn't we just drive here in the car?" Harry whined.

Hermione looked a little embarrassed as she confessed to him. "I'm a bit rubbish at map-reading and I figured that this was a quicker way. I didn't realise that we would be stopping at every site along the way." Harry smiled at her admission. In fact he had been a little surprised at the narrow lanes and road that the coach had taken and silently admitted to himself that he would have possibly got very lost.

Hermione nodded her thanks at his silent thought and she turned to the grinning Vampire. "Enjoying yourself Luna?" she asked.

Luna looked up at the couple and smiled. "Yeah, this is great fun." She said her sunglasses firmly in place on her head, despite the lateness of the year and the cold weather. The sunglasses were more to cover up her Vampire eyes so not as to frighten the Muggles, but Luna had insisted in an expensive pair of Ray-Bans. She said it was because they cover her eyes the best, but really it was because she thought she looked cool in them. Truth was she didn't look cool, she looked stunning. Her new Vampire physique and her new confidence gave her a look that many a woman would pay millions for; she was pretty, blonde and had a figure to die for, but she was still the Luna that they had known for years. With a grin she stood from the seat and grabbed her bag and followed the pair out of the coach.

As they stood in the car park they all looked around at the remains of the castle. Tintagel castle mainly stood on a large rocky outcrop away from the main-land. Only two court-yards and the visitor centre stood on the mainland and a thin stone walk-way connected the two sections. Most of the castle was in ruins with very little left stood above the ground. The tour-guide was trying to arrange her group, but Harry, Hermione and Luna walked away from the main party, opting to explore on their own. The tour-guide glared at them as they walked away before shrugging and turning to the group.

Hermione led the way to the ticket office to buy the three tickets and a small map and guide book. They walked the short walk to the lower courtyard and found a bench to open the map on.

"Look, Merlin's cave!" Luna said, pointing out the feature that was on the beach. "Do you think that Merlin ever really came here?" she asked.

"Well it's worth a look, but before that let's have a wander. We can find a tour-guide and ask about the location of the Lake." Harry said.

They all stood and walked around the site towards the island. They asked a few of the wandering tour-guides but not of them could answer any of their questions about the correct location for the lake mentioned in the legends. One lady was sure that it was The Loe but since they had already been there they knew this was not correct. As they entered the Island courtyard, they noticed something odd. Towards one of the walls stood a nearly complete building, it looked like a small keep, but everyone seemed to be ignoring it, walking by as if it didn't exist.

"Look, I think that area has anti-muggle wards around it, everyone seems to be ignoring it." Harry whispered. They all walked towards the building and as they got closer they could feel the tingle of the magic surrounding the building. Looking around to see if anyone was watching them and finding no one, they entered the building. Inside they found the remains of a Wizarding tour centre, recently abandoned. There were pamphlets showing the castle as it looked in the times of Camelot as well as the remains of moving posters on the walls. All the signs were there to suggest that it had only been recently abandoned and in a hurry as well.

They had a good look around but could find no clue as to the location of the sword.

"Well it obvious that the Wizarding world thought that this was possible the remains of Camelot, but that doesn't help us with the location of the sword. If one of the two lakes nearby was the original location for the Lady, then either she has moved or someone else has moved the sword. Either that or the lake wasn't as close to Camelot as the legend suggests. I guess that when Arthur visited the lake, Merlin could of apparated him there so the lake could be anywhere." Hermione said in a frustrated voice.

"So what now?" Harry asked her.

"What about Merlin's Cave?" Luna said with a smile.

Harry looked around the castle and shrugged his shoulder. "Might as well look there, I can sense no magic other than the building we found, although I can sense something nearby, just not sure where. How do we get down to the cave?" he asked. Luna looked at the guide they had bought and her face fell. "Oh, it says here that the cave and beach are closed due to the steps been washed away in a recent storm. That is the only way down to the beach that accesses the cave."

Harry smiled and took Hermione's hand and all three walked to the wall of the Courtyard. Peering over the top they spotted the white stony beach far below the cliffs. All three looked around and Luna cast a subtle 'notice me not' spell and they all apparated to the beach below.

The beach was small and secluded with only a short strip of sand before the sea. The cliffs were overhanging and it created a very eerie feel to the area. It was obvious that the cave was only accessible during low tide as the entire mouth of it was covered in wet sand and seaweed. The cave itself was a large opening in the rock face that seemed to reach back into the rocks. The floor was covered in a mixture of sand and shingle and the only source of light was the entrance itself. As they entered the cave they all shivered in the cold air. Following the cave in, they saw that walls were covered in a green moss that seemed to glow slightly in the dim light.

"Harry, there's nothing here. This was a complete waste of time." Hermione groaned.

Harry however was feeling drawn to the back wall of the cave; something was calling to him, some sense of the familiar. "Wait Mione, something..." He moved his hand across the back wall in a sweeping motion before he smiled to himself.

"Lumos!" he said, holding out his hand, the ball of light appeared and they all blinked at the sudden illumination. "Look here!" he called out, as the two girls made their way to him. He was pointing to an indentation in the rock.

"This is the same shape as my staff pommel." As he spoke he called his staff to his other hand, and showed them both the staff and the shaped hole in the rock.

"I think your right love, try putting it in there." Hermione told him causing Luna to giggle. Hermione glared at her but blushed anyway. Harry transferred the ball of light in his hand to Hermione, causing Luna to raise an eyebrow at the casual way in which the pair played with advanced magic. He then held the staff in the middle and pointed the pommel at the hole. Pushing it forward it slid effortlessly into the hole and the wall in front of them shimmered and faded away, leaving an old stone doorway in its place.

"Wow!" Luna said as Harry pulled the staff back. Walking to the door, it opened silently as he drew close and they all peered into the doorway. Beyond was another cave, this was however was illuminated by thousands of glowing crystals that seemed to grow from the floor and walls. As they entered the cave they could feel the immense amount of raw magic in the air, it made them tingle as it coursed through them. Harry turned to say something to Hermione when he stopped and burst out laughing.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Why are you laughing? Stop that Harry! Harry!" she said and she even stamped her foot on the floor, causing Harry to laugh even more. Luna looked at Harry and then at Hermione and suddenly the reason for his hilarity was plain to see. The magic in the air, not only was causing their skin to tingle but it was also having an effect on Hermione's hair. It was so bushed up and had static crackling along it's lengths. Over the years Hermione had managed to tame her wild mane, but now she just looked like she did all those years ago. Luna let out a snort that attracted Hermione's attention from glaring at her giggling husband and she turned to the blonde vampire. Despite herself she also laughed at the blonde whose hair was also stood on end. Luna's however resembled a Medusa, her hair stood upright around her pale face.

"Luna! You're hair!" Hermione burst out, conjuring a mirror so the Vampire could see. Luna's eyes boggled and she laughed even harder.

"L-l-l-look at yours." She managed to say. Hermione turned the mirror around and looked at her reflection. Her eyes widened and she snorted out a laugh. "Wow, talk about a bad hair day!" she muttered before laughing. Luna was laughing before a thought struck her. With a wave of her head, her hair suddenly curled down and all of a sudden she looked stunning.

"Hey no fair!" Hermione pouted.

"Well been a Vampire has got to be good for something" she replied. By now Harry was leaning against the wall for support as he laughed at the two girls. Hermione glared at him and turned the mirror towards him, showing his thick mop of hair.

"Laugh it up Fuzzball!" she muttered, quoting one of her favourite lines from one of her favourite films.

Harry stared at her before glancing at the mirror. "I can't tell any difference!" he said, prompting the girls to laugh even harder. By now magic was also crackling through their hair and it was making them all feel very odd, almost intoxicated.

"Come on let's see where this goes." Harry said and they followed the thin pathway through the crystals.

"It's very beautiful here, magical." Luna said as they walked. "What sort of crystals are these, I've never seen them before?" she continued.

"No idea Luna, but I agree they are magical. They seem to radiate raw magic. I'm guessing even a muggle after been in here for a while could do a little magic for a while."

They followed the little path through the cave as it wound its way upwards. Finally they got to a small wooden doorway. There was no handle or lock on the door, but a small stone panel inlayed with a gold design on it. The panel was heavily polished and almost shone in the light of the crystals. The design was of a sword and a staff crossed.

"Merlin's sign." Hermione breathed. "Go on touch it Harry." She told him.

"Why not you, you are descended from his as well love." Harry replied.

Luna looked at the pair and a question formed on her lips. "Hey won't that mean you are related?" she asked.

"Sorta, the same way almost everyone is related. We looked it up, we are cousins many times removed. If you look at anyone in the magical world they are somewhat related. Harry and you are related, your cousins seven times removed. Don't worry about us though, the relation is so distant. We share a common ancestor that's all." As she spoke she placed her hand on the panel causing it to glow a deep golden glow. The door melted away and revealed a stone spiral staircase that wound its way up. The stair case was illuminated by candles that suddenly burst into life when the door vanished.

"Coming?" Hermione asked as she started on the stairs.

Harry was thinking about the Merlin relationship. None of them had really spoken about it too much although Harry had spoken to Fawkes one afternoon about it due to something that was bothering him.

# Begin Flashback #

 _Harry was sat in the den of the cottage nursing a cup of tea. Hermione was dozing on the sofa and everyone else was somewhere in the house busy. He was bothered by something, something that he had been told and he needed answers. Almost as if he knew he would be needed Fawkes burst into flames in front of him and stood on the table looking at Harry, his head cocked to one side._

" _ **Okay spill it meat-bag, what's bothering you?"**_ _the Phoenix asked._

" _Sod off bird-brain!" Harry retorted._

 _The Phoenix sighed and looked over at his charge. "_ _ **Sorry Harry, may I ask what is bothering you?"**_ _he asked in a much kinder tone._

 _Harry looked at the beautiful bird and ran his hand through his hair. "It's about Merlin and the entity that we spoke to, your past master, he's not human right?"_

" _ **Not even close young one"**_ _Fawkes replied._

" _That's what I thought, so does that mean because he is our ultimate grandfather that Mione and I aren't human?"_

" _ **Ah, I see what this is about. Okay, the entity is not human, not even close but Merlin and Dumbledore and all the others were human."**_

" _Eh?"_

" _ **When you met the entity he was non-human using his powers to look like a previous version of himself. When he was those versions, he took human form. He looked human, he had the body of a human. He had to breathe; he slept, cried, ate, loved and ultimately 'died' as a human."**_

" _But he was so powerful, his essence wasn't human." Harry cried._

" _ **Okay, let's try a different approach. Are you human?"**_

" _Yes off course, well I think so or rather I did before all of this began."_

" _ **Ok put that to one side for the moment and answer me this; is Hermione human?"**_

 _Harry nodded._

" _ **But you are magical; you both are the most powerful magical beings on the planet. You are bloody immortal for goodness sake. Is that human?"**_

 _Harry looked dumbly at the Phoenix, but Fawkes ploughed on._

" _ **When you have kids, will they be human?"**_

" _Off course they bloody well be." Harry replied angrily._

" _ **But how, I mean you two are so far removed from the human norm, so your kids they cannot possible be human...can they?"**_

" _Fuck you!" Harry replied._

" _ **Ha! How very...Human. Do you see what I'm getting at? You were born human, and even if you have a little extra in you now, you are still human. Being human is more than the powers you have, it's more than how long you will live, it's more than what you were before. Being human is what you ARE, not what you can do. Merlin was born human, he loved as a human and he had two beautiful children as a human, and they were human as much as you are, even if their mother wasn't completely...but that's a different story."**_

 _No matter how much Harry asked the bird, Fawkes would not explain his last statement, but eventually Harry got the message that both he and Hermione were human...well human plus, but that was good enough for Harry._

 _# End Flashback #_

"Harry? HARRY!"

"Whaa?" Harry replied stupidly

"Smooth Lord Potter, very smooth." Luna giggled.

"Harry, are you coming or not?" Hermione asked exasperated with him.

"What? Oh yes coming." He replied, following the girls up the stairs. As they walked up the stairs the light levels rose until they candles were burning brightly. By now they had arrived at the top of the stairs and were on a small landing. There was another of the doors with the panel set into the stonework. Harry opened this one and they all found themselves in an entrance hall to a set of rooms. As they explored they found kitchens, bedrooms and a lounge area. The furniture was ancient but perfectly preserved. The walls were covered with old tapestries depicting Camelot and the world of King Arthur. In one of the room they found a small chapel with a large marble built tomb set in the middle. The top of the tomb held a stone effigy of a figure. He was tall with strong features. On his head was a crown and clasped in his stone hands was a stone sword. On the foot of the tomb was an inscription. Hermione read it out loud.

"Hércyme éastrice Artur. Angelcyning sylfum se Britas"

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"It's old English Harry. I studied this is History before I went to Hogwarts. Give me a second... 'Here lies Artur. King of the Britons' I think. Bloody hell, this is King Arthur's tomb." Hermione said in a reverential voice. Behind the tomb of the wall was a colour tapestry of Arthur in life. He was a tall and broad powerful looking figure but the most striking characteristic was his dark black hair and his emerald green eyes.

"Harry look..." Hermione said pointing to the image. "...he looks a lot like.."

"I know Mione." Harry replied, not wanting to think about the consequences of such a fact. As he contemplated the image, he gently brushed his hand against the pale marble of the tomb. As soon as his skin came into contact with the stone effigy he gasped as he felt a prick of pain in his hand. Removing it he noticed that he had left a smear of red blood on the stone figure that slowly was absorbed by the marble. Looking at his palm he could see two pin-pricks on the skin that were still bleeding. He could also see Luna looking at him with an odd look in her eye. Holding out his hand for Luna to lick off the blood his concentration was on the effigy that was now glowing. Suddenly a shimmering figure rose from the tomb and floated a few feet above the stone figure. The figure looked like that of the tapestry and if you took away the armour and some of the age, the figure was Harry's double.

The figure started to speak but for Hermione and Luna the language was unknown. It sounded like a mixture of Latin and French, and Hermione quickly realised that the figure was speaking in old English, an language she could translate when written but since no one had really heard it spoken for centuries she could not understand it, although certain words she could understand. It was clear to her that Harry was having no trouble understanding the figure and he was using his mental link with her to pass along the figures words.

"Welcome Heir, you are most welcome to this place. I was Artur Pendragon, last true king of the Britons. I have laid here for centuries awaiting my Heir to visit my final resting place. Fear not, I am not a true ghost but a memory echo placed here by my good friend and teacher Emrys."

"How come I can understand you Sire, you are not speaking English yet I know what you are saying?" Harry asked when the figure paused.

"When you touched the tomb, my young Heir, it sampled your blood to test your inheritance. Part of the test also allowed you to speak to me in my native tongue. May I ask thee a boon young Heir?"

Harry nodded, unsure of what to say.

"What is the year?" the figure asked.

"It's January 1998 sire" Harry told the figure.

Artur raised an eyebrow at the news, "So very long... Thank you young Heir, may I ask your name?"

"It's Harry Sire, Harry Potter." Harry stuttered back

"Come now young Harry, I'm sure you have more names than that do you not?"

Harry sighed and looked embarrassed. "My title is Lord Harry James Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Ravenclaw -Slytherin-Emrys-Potter."

"Emrys you say, you are related to my old friend?" the shade asked him.

"Yes Sire, I am descended from his daughter."

"His daughter, he never told me he had children that sly old dog." The shade laughed. He turned and noticed the two women for the first time. "Would you please introduce us Harry?"

"Sorry Sire, this is Luna Lovegood, a good friend of ours. And this is my wife, the Lady Hermione." As he spoke he placed his arm around Hermione and pulled her to him. "They cannot understand what we are saying though, although I am translating for Mione, we have a mental link that I can use."

"Have them place their hands on the tomb Harry." Harry told them to do so and Hermione felt the quick pain in her hand, before the blood was absorbed into the tomb. Luna however felt nothing. She was looking slightly bemused by the events so far. Artur looked at the young blonde in surprise. He floated over to her and peered at the blonde.

"Harry, are you aware that this lady is not human? She is some sort of hybrid?" he asked.

"Yes Sire, she is unique, she is a Vampire with a Soul. She is a good person despite her condition."

"A soulful Vampire eh, never have I seen such a thing. Well in that case the magic of the tomb will not work for her. But we cannot have this lovely young lady not understanding us. Alas I have no magic of my own, been of non magical birth."

"Sire, if I may suggest something?" Hermione ventured.

"Yes Lady Potter?" the shade asked with a smile.

"Luna, look at me for a second please." She told the Vampiress. "Without your sunglasses Luna!"

Luna giggled and removed her shades. Hermione looked deep into her eyes for a second and waved her hand over the Vampires face. Her hand glowed purple for a second and suddenly Luna gasped.

"What did you do Hermione?" she asked the witch.

"I allowed you to use some of my Ravenclaw powers for a few hours. You can now understand anything that I can, including King Artur of there."

Everyone looked over at the shade once more.

"Good, that's it better. Now young Heir..."

"Sire, why do you keep calling me that?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

"Simple young Harry. You can add another title and surname to your full name. That is Royal Highness and Pendragon. You are my only living heir and as such you are entitled to the throne of these lands."

"What! Bugger! No no no! What the country needs is not another King, but a good decent Government!" Harry said hurriedly.

After an explanation about what a Government was, Artur looked at the young man with even more respect. To be told that you were descended from Royalty but to then reject it for the good of the country was noble, very noble.

"Young Harry, after what you have said, I am pleased with you. I did say that you are 'entitled' to the throne. I didn't say you had to accept it. If what I can sense is true, that is for the best, you and your lovely Queen will live a long time yes? Even the best of people can be corrupted by that sort of power. You will always be a Pendragon, you are the only one who can draw my Sword, but I believe that this Government of yours will best serve my people. For hence forth you will be given the rank of Duke and your lady a Duchess. You may bear the name Pendragon and all of its treasures that I believe my friend Emrys opened a vault for in your lovely bank. "

After a long pause, Harry thanked the shade. "If I may sire, we need to find your sword. That is why we are here. You see and evil wizard has used your sword to create a Horcrux, and Evil magic that corrupts the soul and we need to destroy the Horcrux in order to rid the world of him. Problem is, your sword seems to have gone missing."

"Young Harry, I am sorry but I cannot help you. I do not know the resting place of the sword, only Emrys know of this."

Harry looked at Hermione in frustration. All this for naught, they were back at square one. He was just beginning to thank the shade when with a 'Pop' Dobby arrived.

"Harry, Harry! You must come quickly. Your Miss Ginny and your Master Neville have found something about the sword. They have asked for you to come quickly." He told them speaking very quickly and bouncing from foot to foot as he spoke in excitement.

"Dobby, calm down please. Tell me again slowly."

"Sorry Mast...sorry Harry. I have been asked by Miss Ginny and Master Neville to find you. They have discovered something about the location of the lake." He said much more slowly.

"Go young Harry, my work here is done. I will be allowed to rest now for eternity in the arms of my beloved and my Queen." The shade said as it faded away.

"Wow!" Luna said in amazement.

"Yeah...come on then we ought to go!" Harry said.

"Yes my Liege!" Luna said with a smile.

"Luna...don't!" Harry said with a grimace. "As if I need any more strangeness in my life. We can come back when all this is over and explore more, but for now we need to go."

"What about our stuff at the hotel and the car?" Hermione asked.

"Dobby will get your belongings from your Hotel, Mistress." Dobby said.

"And the car?" Luna asked; she had liked the car.

Harry looked a little sheepish and pulled out a miniature version of the car from his pocket. "Er, I shrunk it kept it in my pocket."

"Do you mean to tell me that we could have got off that bloody bus at any time and driven?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, but the bus was YOUR idea love!" Harry replied.

"Well I know, but...well...that bloody women did go on something terrible." She spluttered.

"I liked it!" Luna said.

"You like everything Luna!" Hermione told her.

"Well, what can I say, I am happy sort of Vamp don't ya know." She said flashing her fangs at the older woman.

The three took each other's hands and Harry took them to Hogwarts main entrance, scaring a couple of third year Hufflepuff's as they appeared.

Dobby smiled to himself and with a gentle 'pop' he vanished. The room was silent for a long few minutes before Fawkes flamed in and sat on the Tomb. He stood looking at the empty room for a while before turning his head to the effigy on the tomb and then around the room.

" _They're gone, you can come out now!"_ he said.

Without a flourish a figure emerged from the wall and looked at the phoenix with a grin. "Well that was interesting for them don't ya think?" he asked the bird.

" _Certainly, I'd forgotten that he was related to Arthur? Was that really him?"_

"Yes, well sorta. It was a spell I cast on him at his request before he died. He knew that one day his Heir would come and he wanted to meet him."

" _What is the relationship?"_

"Well as you know Harry is related to me through my daughter, but one of her granddaughters married Arthurs and Guinevere's grandson, and thus the line was connected."

" _Ha, I remember that your daughter's line only ever seemed to produce daughters, but I suppose when you consider what she inherited from her mother..."_

"Hush now, it's complicated all these lines. These Humans do like to make it difficult. All I'm bothered about is that Harry is related to both me and Arthur, as well as the founders."

" _Yeah he's a good man, potty mouth but a good man."_

"Oh yes, of that I'm sure. I am proud of the way he handled everything though. He is turning into a powerful man. He and Hermione will be fantastic in the millennia to come. Pity though, I miss Arthur, or Artur as he called himself, he was a good friend and a good ruler."

" _Don't get maudlin on me now you old rogue. Do you think they are on the right track?"_

"Well if the little red-head is as bright as I think so then yes, but they are in so much danger. I just hope that they will prevail."

" _Don't you know if they will?"_ Fawkes asked.

"Hey! Not even we Eternals know everything." The figure said as it morphed back into its usual form before vanishing.

Fawkes laughed and after a little while he also vanished.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

In the office of Ragnok there was suddenly a commotion. The elderly Goblin sighed and peered over at the two Goblins stood by his desk looking agitated.

"What is the matter Griphook?" he asked his son.

"Sorry for the disturbance but well... Vault #2 just re-activated my Liege."

"What?! That's impossible, no one has had access to that vault since..well since forever. Who is the beneficiary?"

"My lord, its Lord and Lady Potter, but it says here that he is now a Duke and heir apparent to the Pendragon throne. It also says abdicated but still active."

Ragnok laughed and took the notice from his son.

"Well well, Harry what have you been up to now? With this vault, you own nearly all the Wizarding worlds wealth, as well as a lot of the Muggle world." He muttered to himself.

"Activate the ledgers and put out the word that I would like to see Duke Potter when he is free."

"Yes father!" Griphook said.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Serverus Snape sighed happily to himself as he laid on the sun-lounger. He was holding a drink in his hand as he laid back and grinned to himself. The sun was strong and he had a little problem with the muggle sun-lotion, but everything was looking good. Tomorrow he would find the Wizarding community and begin his life as a new dark lord. Yes everything was looking good. He smiled and finished his drink.

Unknown to Snape, his presence was not going unnoticed. The Fates were plotting against him and events were not going to go his way. A man looked at the pale greasy haired one and grimaced to himself. He needed to send a message and he needed to do it soon. Oliver Wood, professional Quidditch player with Puddlemere United, currently on holiday quickly left to make a call.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Tom Riddle was a lot 'happier' than he was a few days ago. Sure his forces we a little depleted, but with the arrival of a few more from the training camps that situation was now rectified. But the major reason for his increased good mood was that one of his operatives had found the Mudblood whores's parents. It was a chance encounter that had provided the information to him. One of his Deatheaters scattered around the world had visited the cafe that the two muggles ran and had recognised the pair. They were calling themselves something different, and their minds were closed to the wizard but he had a copy of a photo of them that had been raided from the house in England and they were a match.

Now all Tom had to do was to come up with a suitable way of killing them that would draw out there daughter and allow him to crush Potter's morale into the ground.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N. This is a dark chapter with multiple character deaths in it. It is also the only chapter not to feature our hero's. I hope you enjoy it and also be warned, there is a cliffie.**

 **Chapter Twenty Two – Dark Deeds.**

Dan and Emma Granger locked up the cafe for the night and made their way to the car to drive the short distance to their home. It had been a good day, with plenty of customers dropping in; a good mixture of tourists and locals. The fact that locals came to visit was a source of pride for both the ex-pats as it showed that the local community had accepted the Brits into their fold. Both adults were tired but happy as they walked to the car. They had kept the name Wilkins, but they both now knew that they were Grangers, and they were aware of their beloved daughter Hermione. That's not to say that they were both a little pissed at her for removing their memories and shipping them off to Australia, but they were also very worried about both her and her husband Harry. When both teens had left to go back to England, they had all hugged and Hermione had left her parents an emergency portkey that would take them to the Australian ministry in case of emergency. It looked like a small round tennis ball that they had to hold and say the word 'rescue'. They kept it with them where ever they went, and they kept an eye out for any unusual looking characters.

"Busy day love, can't wait to get a drink and a dip in the pool." Dan said as they climbed into the car.

"Mmm, yes a nice glass of white and then I'll treat you to dinner out later." Emma said with a happy smile on her face. The sun was still warm and it sure as hell beat cold wintery England. Dan turned the key in the ignition and the car burst into life. He moved from the parking area and turned onto the main road and headed home. They had only gone a few hundred yards before Emma swore.

"Shit!"

"What? What's matter love?" Dan asked.

"I left the coffee machine on. Bugger! Oh what the hell, let's leave it, its fine."

"No, that's our electricity it's using. It will take me no time at all to switch it off." And with that he turned the large four wheel drive around and headed back to the cafe. He pulled up in front of the building, not parking properly and jumped out, leaving the engine running.

"Keys?" he asked his wife, and she fished them out of her handbag and handed them to him with an apologetic smile.

"Won't be long!" he muttered and left to open the cafe door.

Emma sat in the car fiddling with the radio, looking for the station she liked when she heard a massive bang from the cafe and a scream. Before she had time to do anything, Dan's body came flying out of the large glass window and impacted nosily of the windscreen of the car. His eyes were wide open and his face bloody as it hit the screen, almost shattering it completely. It was clear to Emma from her husband's position that Dan was dead, his neck snapped as his head lolled to one side. Emma screamed, frozen in terror as she saw two dark clothed figures exit the shop. She noticed they both had silver masks on and had wands drawn. The two Deatheaters were a little disorientated from the four stage portkey that there master had furnished them with and therefore the curse they had used was a little overpowered. They had not intended to kill the male muggle but at least they still had the woman. Hopefully Voldemort would not be too upset with them.

"You are coming with us!" one of them shouted in a rough voice, "Come out of the vehicle or we will come and get you. Our orders are to bring you alive, but nothing was said about in how many pieces, we may have some fun with you first though." He said with an evil laugh. Emma looked at the two and then back into the dead eyes of her husband. She seemed to hear his voice in her head.

" _Run! Run my beloved!"_

Galvanised into action, she slipped the still running car into drive and leant across to the pedals. Keeping her head down she pushed the accelerator hard and the Toyota leapt forward directly into one of the wizards. She heard and felt him impact into the bonnet of the car and then the crash as she ploughed into the cafe.

"SHIT!" she heard from outside. "Dolohov? You okay?" but there was no answer from the wizards, as he was currently resting under the wheels of the car. He would be resting for a long time...he was dead. Emma had coincidently killed the murderer of her husband as well as the man who had nearly killed her daughter. She poked her head above the dash-board and reached her hand around to grasp her dead lovers arm. With the other hand she had pulled out the portkey.

"Rescue!" she yelled and the two were whisked away, leaving the sole Deatheater to survey the damage.

"Oh crap, I am so dead!" he muttered to himself before activating the first stage of the return portkey.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Emma landed on a smooth marbled floor with a bump and immediately hugged the body of Dan close to her. Somewhere in her mind she could hear a strange keening noise and it took a little while for the rational part of her mind to realise that the noise was coming from her as she hugged the body of her life-partner to herself, rocking backwards and forwards with the tears rolling down her face. Most of her mind had shut down and so she just sat there rocking her husband to her. By now she had drawn a small crowd of concerned onlookers, none of them sure of how to help this grieving woman. Someone had the presence of mind to call the Aurors and small group were approaching. Auror Brendan Reed was in charge of the small team and he looked at the sad sight in front of him. The woman judging by her dress was a muggle as was the man. He could see what looked like a tennis ball in her hand and after casting a spell he could tell that it had been used as a portkey. Casting another spell on the man he tried to assess his medical condition and he was not surprised to see that the man was dead, but also he had been killed by magical means. Bending slowly down to the woman, he could tell that she was in deep shock.

"Ma'am, you have to let him go. Ma'am he's gone but we need to help you." He gently said to her, but she just looked blankly at him, the tears still rolling down her face and still making the strange keening noise as she grieved. Very gently he picked up a fallen wallet that was on the floor and found the man's ID. Spotting the wedding ring on her finger he tried to speak to her again.

"Mrs Wilkins, I don't know how you got here, but you need to see a medic. Please let your husband go so we can help you. We will look after him, you can be assured." Again there was no sign that she had heard him.

"Mrs Wilkins..." the woman looked at him and shook her head. She was opening and closing her mouth as if she was trying to speak, but no words were coming out. Finally she managed to utter a few words that chilled Auror Reed to the bone.

"N-n-n-not Wilkins, Granger...Emma... Daughter Hermione Grange...Potter. She's married to Harry...We're hiding out here to be safe. H-H-H-Hermione gave portkey."

Even in Australia, they had heard of Harry Potter, and as Brendan put together the woman's words he swore quietly to himself.

"Fuck! You mean your Harry Potter's mother-in-law? And this is his Father-in-law?" Emma nodded quickly, rocking once more. Brendan rocked back on his feet as he took in the information. Finally coming to a conclusion he turned back to the grieving woman.

"Mrs Granger...Emma will you let me have him?" he gently asked her. She looked at him with empty eyes and eventually slowly nodded and relaxed her hold on the man. Auror Reed signalled to the other two Aurors and they gently levitated the body, coving it with a hastily conjured blanket. Brendan looked around to see the eyes of his partner looking back at him with concern in her blue eyes.

"Alice, I'm going to take her to medical. Can you ask the boss to meet us there? The shit going to hit the fan for this and we need to be prepared." Alice Nguyen nodded and stood to leave and to find their boss, Senior Auror Davies. Brendan motioned to two of the other Aurors and gave them Dan's ID. "Go to this address as see what's there. Be careful there may be still around." Brendan then turned his attention to the near catatonic woman who was watching her husband been taken away.

"Emma...Emma! Look at me. You are in shock, do you understand?" the woman nodded slowly. "I need you to come with me." He gently pulled her to her feet and they slowly made their way the short walk to the medical unit. Here they were met by one of the Healers.

"Brendan, what do you have?" the healer asked.

"This is Emma Granger, Harry Potter's mother-in-law." he said with a grimace, the healer raised her eyebrows and looked concerned. "Somehow she and her husband portkey-ed into our building. They seem to have been attacked but I have yet to find out the details. I think she's in shock."

"The Husband?" the healer asked in a quiet voice. Brendan just shook his head. The Healer closed her eyes briefly and nodded before turning to Emma.

"Mrs Granger, please come with me, I am Healer Brown." She told the woman and led her to one of the free rooms.

Brendan stood for a little while and was about to find a coffee when his boss and partner walked in.

"Auror Reed, report." Ryan Davies, senior Auror asked.

"Well, it seems that Mr and Mrs Granger, in-laws to Harry Potter were attacked by persons unknown. Mr Granger was killed, and my tests have shown magic was used. Mrs Granger was able to activate an emergency portkey and her and her husband's body were taken here. Mrs Granger is in shock and is been treated as we speak."

"Bugger! What were they doing here?" he asked aware of the political implications of the situation.

"Well from what I can gather, their daughter Hermione brought them here to be safe. She gave them a new name and the portkey...sir. I have sent Roberts and White to their address to check the place out."

"Okay...we need to get hold of her daughter and Mr Potter ASAP. Problem is the magical government in the UK is in the hands of Voldemort. How are we going to get hold of them?" he mused to himself.

Alice suddenly looked up. "The Goblins sir, ask at Gringotts here is Melbourne to contact the bank in London. I read about Mr Potter and I know he is very rich, they Goblins will know how to contact him."

"Good plan Nguyen. Take a team and make the call." He told the young Auror. As he was talking, Healer Brown came out of the room.

"Ah Ryan good you are here." She said to her friend.

"Kelly how is she?" he asked her.

"As well as can be expected. She was in severe shock and stress, and of course is very upset by the loss of her husband. I have given her a calming draft, but would rather have her asleep. However I knew you would want to talk to her. Please be gentle and quick."

Ryan nodded and walked over to the room. Brendan followed him and they looked inside. Emma was lying on the bed, crying gently. As they entered she looked up, alarmed for a second before relaxing.

"Mrs Granger, may we come in please?" Ryan asked in a gently voice. Emma nodded her agreement.

"Mrs Granger, I am Senior Auror Ryan Davies; can you tell me what happened to you please?"

Emma looked lost for a second before, in a halting voice, began to speak.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Augusta Longbottom, grandmother to the next Lord Longbottom and matriarch of the family was sat resting in her favourite armchair. She had a cup of tea next to her and she was doing the crossword in the Muggle newspaper, The Times. Unlike many purebloods, Augusta did not ignore the muggle world or treat it with disdain. She embraced all it had to offer and enjoyed the few muggle friends she had. But her one love was the crossword in the Times. Not the easy quick version but the proper cryptic one, the really hard one. She would time herself every day, and normally would beat the thirty minute marker, but today she was stuck on nineteen down.

"English learnt unhappily is lasting...seven letters begins with 'E'..." she muttered to herself as she nibbled the end of the ball point pen she had been given. As she sat she heard a loud noise outside.

"What the hell is that?" she asked herself. "Pipin! Pipin!" she yelled as a small house elf popped into the room.

"We is under attack Lady Longbottom, the evil one is outside." The elf cried.

"What!? Voldemort here? Well bugger that!" she said, standing and pulling out her wand. "This old battleaxe is not for turning!" she yelled and strode towards the door. Pulling open the outer door she strode out onto the front porch and into the garden.

"Tom Bloody Riddle, show yourself you mangy coward!" she yelled.

"Hello Augusta." Came a smooth reply, whirling around to the side she came face to face with the red eyes of Voldemort. He had obviously breached the manors wards and she knew that her time was close. "Good evening to you, on your last night alive. Soon when the world learns of your death the whole world will tremble at my name."

"Yadda, yadda! You never were good at speech's Tom, even at school." She taunted, aware that now that he had breached the wards how limited her time was. As she spoke she was waving her wand behind her sealing off the lower levels of the house where all the books and valuables were kept. She then sent Pipin to Neville with the letter she had wrote just in case this eventuality came to pass.

"How dare you, you and your no good squib of a grandson will pay the ultimate price for your betrayal to the purebloods. Aveda is too good for you. SECTUMSEMPRA!" he yelled and slashed his wand in her direction. Her abdomen burst open, spilling blood and entrails onto the floor. Augusta fell to the ground and felt her life ebbing away. With the last of her strength she spat at the feet of the man...monster that had killed her. She heard him laugh and cast a Fiendfyre at the house before apparating away. As she breathed her last, the answer to the clue came to her dying mind.

"Of course...Eternal!" and with a shudder she died.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Ryan Davies and Brendan Reed left the hospital wing and made their way to Ryan's office. Ryan reached into the desk drawer and pulled out two glasses. Pouring from a old bottle he filled them both up with fire whisky and passed one to his subordinate.

"Get that down ya, it's going to be a long night."

After they had drunk the shot, Brendan put his glass down. "Shit!" he whispered.

"Yeah! Tell me about it!" there was a knock on the door and Ryan yelled "Come in!" the door opened and Alice entered followed by Auror Alan Roberts.

"Roberts, you first, report!" Ryan asked in a pained voice.

"Sir, we went to the home address and all was quiet, we asked around and learnt that the Grangers had a cafe in the town. We went there and well... It's a mess sir. There was police all around, but from what we could find out, two Deatheaters appeared in the cafe. For some reason Mr Granger went back to the property..."

"They'd left the coffee machine on." Brendan told his friend. Alan nodded and carried on.

"...well it seems that after they killed Mr Granger, Mrs Granger drove their car at them, killing one of them. He was still under the wheels, well most of him was. As there was no obvious sign of magic, we let the authorities take the body away. We did get his wand and remove all his Deatheater garb beforehand though." He said handing over the wand.

"Do we know his identity?" Ryan asked.

"We will shortly, his wand was tested for an ID and we will know soon sir."

"And the other Deatheater?" Ryan asked.

"No sign sir must of portkey-ed away sir." Roberts said.

"Thank you Roberts go get a cuppa; Alice, report."

"Sir, I have contacted the Goblins, they are going to speak to their counterparts in London and pass on the message. There were a little pissed that this has happened, it seems that the Potters are now known as Goblin Friends." Alice told her boss.

"WHAT? Goblin Friends? That's not happened since, well since forever. Shit, Shit! We need to help Mrs Potter as much as we can."

"How is Mrs Granger sir?" Alice asked.

"Asleep with a dreamless Sleep potion. She's in shock but other than that she will be fine physically. Mentally, well she is broken hearted; I just hope that seeing her daughter will help them both heal."

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Vernon Dursley was bored and angry. If he was honest with himself, he was also a little frightened. They had been staying at this odd house in the country for a few months now and Vernon was pissed with it all. The house was all wrong, no electricity so no TV, and no proper lights, only bloody candles. The rest was okay he thought, at least the food was good but it was the company and the boredom that was really getting to him. The woman, Jones or Hestia as she insisted that he called her, was reasonably nice and quite pretty to look at, but it was the old man Diggle that really got his goat. He was just so...so freak-like but despite that the man scared him. He wasn't an underage freak like Potter, one that he could bully and keep in line. No Diggle was a fully grown wizard, capable of who knows what, but despite all that and despite all the insults that Vernon threw at the man, he was so bloody cheerful and polite.

"Petunia, if we don't get out of here soon, I'm going to go mad. All these bloody freaks around us and for what? So Potter thinks we are okay. I mean what are we really doing here? This so called Voldemort, where is he is he is so powerful. I need to go back to work and Dudley needs to go back to school." He ranted for the millionth time. Petunia sighed to herself. These last few months had been an eye-opener for her. She had seen what a pig and a bully her husband could be sometimes.

"Where is Dudley?" Vernon asked suddenly.

"He's outside with some of the kids that are also staying here." Petunia replied. They were all staying in a house in the country, and as well as themselves there were a few other families hiding here. Some of them had kids and Dudley had amazingly made friends with them. Dudley had changed recently, he seemed to be a more gentle boy and more accepting of the Wizarding ways he was been exposed to. Petunias had spoken to him about it a few days ago and it seemed that his encounter with the Dementors a few years ago had made him look at his life and he wasn't happy with what he saw; so he vowed to change. All of this had annoyed Vernon even more, especially when he had seen his son holding hands with a rather pretty young witch.

"He better not be with that freaky slut again!" Vernon growled.

"VERNON! She is not a slut, she is very nice and she is good for our Duddykins." She said to her husband.

"Bah! She a freak! A no good freak!" Vernon spat back. He was about to say more when they both heard a scream from outside. Rushing to their feet they went out into the courtyard to see what was happening. What they saw froze their blood. Diggle was stood with his wand out firing curses at people. He was stood in the centre of the yard and he was wobbling slightly on his feet. Petunia caught a look of his eyes and saw that they were an odd silver colour, and he seemed to be in a daze as he fired curse after curse. He had been out all morning looking for food and supplies and had just returned. One of the doors flew open and Hestia ran out.

"Dedalus? What are you doing? No pleas..." she was cut off as Diggle fired a green curse at her and she fell down with a thud, her eyes still open but unseeing. Diggle turned and saw the Dursleys and smiled. Once more his wand spat green fire and both elder Dursleys fell down dead, the look of surprise still etched on Vernon's face. Diggle looked around for Dudley but unbeknown to him Dudley was half a mile away kissing his pretty witch in a hay barn they had found. Seeing that Dudley wasn't around, Diggle obeyed the last of his instructions and placed his own wand at his head and fired the killing curse.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Xeno Lovegood silently apparated to his house with a small smile on his face as he looked at the odd shaped building. He knew that most people thought the house odd, damm he knew that most people thought that he was odd. However he liked the house that he and his departed wife Celeste had built all those years ago. They had raised their daughter here and the house held many happy memories. It also held tragic ones; it was here that he lost his beloved in an accident all those years ago. Xeno still missed Celeste, but he had his Luna and he had his paper. It was the paper that had brought him back to the house. He needed to find the magical press that he used to make the paper. He knew he was taking a risk coming here, but he would be quick and back at the Potter cottage within minutes. It had taken all of his powers of persuasion to convince Dobby to let him leave, and even more persuasion to persuade Dobby to provide him with the location of the cottage so he could return; but he had smiled and gently nagged the house elf until he had what he needed.

He entered the building and looked around the room with a grimace. The evidence of the battle that both he and his daughter had fought was still in evidence, but it also seemed that the house had remained untouched since that night.

Unbeknown to Xeno when he crossed the threshold of the house he accidently tripped a spell that sent a message to a small group of Deatheaters that had been tasked with watching the house. Goyle senior was in charge, and he was looking forward to killing anyone who was connected to Potter. It was Potter that was responsible for the death of his son and Damien Goyle was not a man to cross. He and two of his party silently apparated to the Lovegood's house and Goyle silently entered leaving the other two on guard. He crept up to the back of the Blood traitor and raised his wand. Xeno whipped around hearing the intruder for the first time and tried to raise his wand. He wasn't fast enough however as he felt the cutting curse slash across his chest and down to his abdomen. With a cry he fell to his knees, the blood pooling around him. Goyle then cast another curse on the man lying in front of him with a cruel smile on his face,

"Thus all who cross our great Lord Voldemort will pay." Goyle ranted. He smiled at the man as he crushed his wand with his foot. "I will leave you now; the killing curse is far too quick and painless for the likes of you. You will slowly bleed to death, and even if you are found nothing will be able to heal your wounds." He laughed. As he left he raised his wand and cast the Dark Mark above the house before apparating away with his two flunkies.

Xeno gasped in pain as he tried to stand, but he fell back down causing him to momentarily black out. When he came too he whispered to himself. "Luna, I'm sorry." He was silent for a moment before an idea struck him "Dobby!" he cried out.

There was a quite 'pop'.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three – Fallout.**

Harry led the two girls through the corridors of the old castle in the direction of the Gryffindor common room rather than the library. All three of them were totally unaware of the tragedy that had befallen their loved ones and were excited about the news that Ginny and Neville had found some news.

"Why are we not going to the library Harry?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Well Mione, the message said that they had found something. When you find something you stop looking so I guess that they would be in the common room. If not then we can get the map and find them."

"Bloody hell! When did you become so bloody logical?" she asked with a grin.

"Ever since I fell for this bookworm I know!" he replied with an equal grin.

Luna smiled at the pair, so obviously in love with each other and she felt happy to be in their presence. Suddenly and without warning she felt cold and a feeling of dread rose up within her. She looked around in concern her fangs elongating instinctively as she looked for threats. Seeing nothing she retracted them and looked at the pair in front of her. They were looking at her with concern etched on their faces.

"What's up Luna?" Harry asked.

Luna looked confused as she glanced around. "Not sure, but something..." A Patronus flew into the corridor and it spoke with Remus's voice.

"Luna, Harry and Hermione you need to come home urgently, it's Xeno, he's been hurt." It said before fading.

"Oh no Dad! We have to go!" Luna cried looking at Harry with a distraught look. Harry grimaced at the news and cast his own Patronus. He told it to tell Neville and Ginny that they had to go for a family emergency and to see if they could meet them at the cottage when free, whilst Hermione sent hers to ask for Madam Pomfrey to meet them at the cottage. As soon as he had done that he took Hermione's hand as well as Luna's and digging deep into his magical core he silently teleported them to the cottage.

They all arrived to a scene of chaos, as they stood in the main entrance hall Molly Weasley was running to the kitchen and Dobby was banging his head against the wall. Harry yelled for Remus, who shouted back from the conservatory.

"In here Harry, hurry!" he yelled. As they were moving Poppy Pomfrey arrived with a loud pop, her medical bag in her hand.

"Poppy, this way!" Harry yelled taking her by the arm.

"What do we have Harry?" she asked as they moved.

"No idea, Dobby stop doing that, that's an order!" he yelled behind him as he ran.

Dobby looked up and stopped his attempt to be one with the wooden door. He slumped onto the floor and just looked defeated.

Harry and Poppy followed Hermione and Luna as they ran into the conservatory and stopped dead as he saw the scene before him. Remus had vanished all the furniture in the room and had created a large medical bed upon which laid Xeno. He was very pale and covered in his own blood. Remus had removed his clothes and desperately trying to close the wounds on the man's torso.

"Poppy! Help I cannot close the wounds!" he yelled as soon as he saw her. He was frantically waving his wand over the open wounds, which would close briefly before reopening. Bottle of empty blood replenishing potion lay scattered on the floor and Arthur Weasley was pouring another down Xeno's throat. Xeno was barely conscious, his eyes fluttering open occasionally as he moaned in pain. Luna had gasped as she saw her father and had rushed to him as Poppy joined Remus trying to save the man.

"Daddy? Daddy I'm here." Luna whispered to her father. Xeno responded a little by opening his eyes briefly and grasping her hand.

"Hello love, I'm glad I got to see you before I go." He said in a broken voice.

"Don't be silly Daddy, you're not going yet." Luna said with the tears rolling down her face.

"Sorry Luna love, but I don't think that Poppy can help me this time. Goyle cursed the wound so it would not heal. I'm just glad...oh!" he faded off for a while, closing his eyes before opening them. "...I'm just glad that you are here with me. I'm sorry little one but not long now; Luna, please don't grieve, I'm going to see your mother and you need to know that we are both very proud of you. Live your life and love your life."

"Daddy, please don't go, I need you." Luna sobbed.

"Luna, be strong you still have an amazing job to do. Harry... are you here?"

Harry moved forward and took Xeno other hand, by now Poppy had stopped and placed her hand on Remus's hand. She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Harry, I need you to look after my Luna, will you do that for...me?" he asked his voice barely audible.

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Xeno smiled his thanks and turned to his daughter.

"Luna, you are the last of the Lovegood now, you know what you must do...? Don't cry my Luna, my moonchild." He coughed up some blood and his eyes suddenly weren't focused on the room he was in. His face took on a look of wonder as he saw something only he could see.

"Celeste?...oh my Celeste..." his eyes shut for the last time and he went still.

"Oh Daddy!" Luna wailed as she hugged the dead man to herself. Harry felt Hermione's presence next to his and she sobbed against his back. He turned and took her in his arms as he looked at the sad scene in front of him. As he stood he heard a slight 'pop' as Silverfang arrived in the room. He looked at the sight in front of him and bared his teeth.

"Lord Potter, sorry for the intrusion, but you and your wife are needed urgently. It's not good news sir." As he said this he looked at Hermione who felt a shiver run down her spine.

"What's happened?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Silverfang sighed and looked at her with sad eyes. "Your parents were attacked Lady Potter, your mother is fine but..." he broke of as Hermione screamed.

"Daddy! NOOO!" Even Luna looked up with red rimmed eyes as yet another father was taken from a daughter. Hermione had fallen to her knees, taking Harry with her as he tried to comfort her.

"Take me to them!" Hermione growled, and Harry and Hermione vanished. Dobby walked in a grimaced.

"Someone is going to pay for all this!" he growled, surprising everyone with the menace in his voice. By now Molly had arrived and was kneeling next to Luna, hugging the young vampire to her as she grieved for the loss of her remaining parent, and her entrance into been an orphan. There was a loud 'pop' and Ginny and Neville arrived. Ginny was almost holding up Neville who had tears rolling down his face.

"Shit! Now what?" was all Remus said, the blood of Luna's father still evident on his arms and cloths.

 _Flashback_

 _Ginny was still reading the book as Neville looked over at her. She was sat in a shaft of sunlight that came streaming through the window, causing her to look like she was glowing. Her hair shone red and Neville had never thought that she looked as beautiful as she looked at the moment. If only he had the courage to tell her how he really felt. They had danced around each other for months now, ever since he had rescued her from the clutches of the Carrows, before Harry and Hermione had freed the school. She had been hurt quite badly and that was the reason why she had left the school to go back to the Burrow. Occasionally he thought he would see her look at him in a way that made his knees go weak but then she would look away. What he didn't see was the blush that would cover her face and the smile that played across her lips. Even now she could see him looking at her out of the corner of her eye as she tried to read the paragraph that she had been stuck on for the last ten minutes or so. She so wanted him to ask her the question they both knew they wanted to hear, as she thought about it she absently chewed a lock of her hair that was covering her face. She heard a sharp intake of breath from Neville and a quiet "Oh bugger this!" from him before she felt him move closer to her. He took her face in his hands gently and looked into her chocolate eyes as she gazed into his hazel ones._

" _Neville?" she asked in a questioning voice._

" _Shush Gin!" was all he said before his lips gently took her own. Time seemed to stop for the pair as they kissed, to the outside observer there was no lights or sudden bells ringing, nor was there any explosions of wild magic, but to the pair involved it was an intensely satisfying moment. Eventually breathing became an issue and the pair broke apart, but kept their heads very close as they gazed into each other's eyes._

" _Wow!" Ginny said. Neville smiled at the redhead._

" _Gin, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked gently._

" _Well after that kiss, I bloody well hope so. You made my toes tingle!" she giggled._

 _Neville laughed gently and kissed her once more. As he was kissing her there was a 'pop' and Pipin arrived complete with smoking letter and burnt hair._

" _Master Neville, I am so sorry, I tried to help but he was too strong...Mistress Longbottom..." the elf broke off crying._

" _Pipin! What's happened?" Neville asked the distraught House elf, a feeling of dread mounting in his heart._

" _He who must not be named...Fire at manor... killed your aunt!" was all the elf could say before she descended into wailing. Neville's face crumbled, just when he thought life was looking up and Ginny had agreed to be his girlfriend, this had to happen. Ginny was looking pale as she took her new boyfriends head in her arms. She held him close to her bosom as he cried. She felt a warmth in the room and looked up to see Harry's Patronus deliver its message. It took her a little while to tell Neville but soon the pair managed to walk to the outer edges of the school; by this time Ginny was practically carrying Neville but soon they were able to apparate to Harry's cottage, where they were met with another scene of grief._

 _End Flashback_

I.Y. I.Y.I.Y.

If asked about it later, neither Harry or Hermione could of said how they did it, but one second they were knelt on the floor of the cottage and the next they arrived on the floor of the Australian Ministry of Magic, complete with alarms blaring and the sound of Aurors running towards them with wands drawn. However as they drew closer to the pair on the floor a wave of magic erupted from the pair hurling the drawn wands across the room with a clatter. The Aurors looked pissed and were about the get physical when a shout caught their attention.

"STOP! Aurors stand down!" Senior Auror Ryan Davies yelled from the top of some stairs. "They are no threat to us and you couldn't hurt them even if you tried. NOW STAND DOWN!" he yelled. The Aurors reluctantly stood away from the couple who were now totally ignoring them. Ryan had recognised the male and deduced the identity of the woman.

"Lord and Lady Potter, welcome to Australia. I am Senior Auror Ryan Davies. I have been looking after your mother Lady Potter; I am so sorry for you loss Lady Potter." He said to the couple. At his words Hermione eyes snapped up to his.

"Take me to her!" she snarled, standing and brushing the tears away from her eyes with the back of her hands. As she stood magical winds and light played around her, causing her hair to billow around like a veil. Most of the Aurors gasped and stood back from the woman. Ryan gulped and nodded, leading the pair towards the infirmary. Harry was silent as he followed his wife; he could feel her rage and distress at the loss of her father and it caused his own rage to build as he contemplated how someone could do this to her and her family.

Ryan led the couple to the room that Emma was using and opened the door for them. Emma looked up at the sound of the door opening and cried to her daughter.

"Oh Hermione!" was all she got out before she was smothered in her daughter as she flung herself at her.

"Mummy...Daddy's dead!" was all she could say as the two Granger woman held each other. Harry stood back at the door and observed the scene before turning to Ryan.

"What happened?" he asked in a subdued voice.

Ryan looked at him and quietly explained what had happened. He soon became aware that although she gave no sign of it, Hermione was aware of every word he was saying. When he got to the part about the Deatheater killing her father, she looked up and spoke.

"Who was it?" was all she asked.

"I'm sorry Lady Potter, but at the moment we don't know. We have sent off his wand for analysis and expect the results soon." He told her.

"I want to know as soon as you do, even if my mother killed him." She said in an odd voice. Ryan nodded and continued with his report. When he had finished he left the three for a while. Harry looked over at the two women and his heart caught in his throat, but instead of the usual guilt he would normally feel, this time a rage seem to fill his entire being. How dare they do this to him and his own? He could feel his magic responding to his anger in an alarming manner; even Hermione looked over at him as she could feel the magic rolling off him in waves. He had to release it and soon otherwise he would destroy the building.

"I'll be back in a bit!" he growled at the pair and left the medical wing, as soon as he stood outside he found Ryan talking to one of his Aurors. They both looked up alarmed at the sight of the young man glowing a deep golden colour, with waves of light streaming from him.

"Lord Potter! What the ..." was all he got out before Harry grabbed his arm, he could feel someone quickly scanning his memories before Harry let go.

"Thanks, sorry about the invasion of privacy but I need to be somewhere!" and with that Harry vanished, causing the alarms to blare out again.

"How does he do that?" Ryan asked as he silenced the anti-apparition alarms for a second time.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry appeared in the middle of absolute nowhere, deep in the centre of the Australian outback. The sun was brutal as it bore down on the sand. Nothing was moving for as far as the eye could see and very little lived in this part of the country. In fact the arrival of one very pissed off wizard was the first thing of note to happen in this part of the country for a very long time. Harry raised his arms to the sky and screamed the scream of absolute rage at the evil in the world. Magic whipped off him and rolled around the landscape. Suddenly the sky formed dark black clouds that rolled around menacingly and thunder for the first time cracked over the land. Wave upon wave of raw magic flew around the man as he screamed to the heavens. Suddenly the magic reached a critical point and it ignited, the very air burning with an intense heat that was almost like the surface of the sun. The sand boiled and ran liquid and the air turned to plasma around him, all except for a small circle of land that Harry was stood on. Rain tried to fall but immediately turned to steam as it hit the maelstrom on the ground. Eventually Harry's anger dimmed to a bubbling ball that he locked deep inside himself. The fire and magic died around him leaving the molten sand turning to black glass that pinged and creaked as it cooled. Harry looked around in a daze before vanishing, leaving a mile wide circle of cooling smooth glass that would baffle muggle scientists for decades.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry arrived back in the ministry building in the exact spot he had left a little while ago. The alarms were blaring once more. Harry grinned despite everything that had happened before turning to go to Hermione. Before he got there he was stopped by Ryan.

"Lord Potter could you please explain to me what you were just doing in my head, and how are you able to apparate past our best wards?" he asked politely.

"Senior Auror Davies.."

"Ryan; please Lord Potter." Ryan told him with a smile.

"In that case please call me Harry. What I was looking for in your head was a remote location. I needed to burn off some magic as I was a little annoyed at the events that had befallen my wife's family. I needed a location that was uninhabited and miles from anywhere, so I found a place that you had visited once that fitted the bill. I do apologise for the slight, but it was rather urgent. I was a little annoyed. As to the wards, they are fine, very good strong wards. My wife and I are a little stronger than most, you may of noticed so they don't present us with a problem though."

Ryan nodded and Harry moved to be with his wife and mother-in-law. As he opened the door, they both looked up at him. They had both stopped crying, although the tear-tracks were still visible on their faces. They both smiled a little sadly as he entered and he moved to them both for a hug.

"Better now Harry?" Hermione asked. "I felt what you did, it was pretty impressive."

"Yeah, I just needed to blow of some steam, you know." He said with a shrug. "They cannot get away with this, they just can't. Emma you have to come back with us, it's not safe here anymore and we can protect you at the cottage." He carried on.

Emma nodded and kissed his cheek gently. "Thank you Harry. We will need to bring Dan home as well."

Hermione looked up at this. "I want to see him!" she stated.

Harry looked at her for a few moments before nodding. He left the room to find a healer. He soon came across Healer Kelly Brown.

"Lord Potter, how may I help you?" she asked when Harry introduced himself.

"My wife, Hermione would like to see her father. Do you know where he is?" he asked politely.

"Yes off course, I was the one who treated your mother-in-law and I also saw to Mr Granger. I have placed his body in stasis for his return to England. If you give me a few moments, I can move him to a suitable location for your wife to say her goodbyes." She said in a quiet voice. Harry nodded and went to tell his wife. He was surprised to see that Emma was stood up from her bed and putting on some cloths that Hermione had conjured for her.

"I'm coming too, I want to say my goodbyes as well." She said as Harry looked at her with a question on his face. He just nodded and led the pair of them to Healer Brown's desk. She looked up as the trio approached and just nodded.

"Follow me." She said and led them to a small room just of the main ward. It was dimly lit with candles and flowers festooned the shelves. On the bed was a covered figure. They all walked in and stood around the bed. Healer Brown nodded to Hermione who nodded back and she removed the cover from the man's face.

"Oh Daddy!" Hermione cried a she held her father. Kelly had healed the dead man's wounds and he looked peaceful, as if asleep. He was cold however and this made Hermione gasp in shock as she held her father. Emma had taken the other side and they both held the man that had been so important in their lives together. There were little tears now as they had cried them all out and after a while they both stood. Emma absently moved Dan's hair to a neater place and stroked his cheek.

"Dan, you were my first love and my only love. We met young and loved each other hard. You were my true soul mate and we made our beautiful daughter together. We are now having another and I now know that it is a boy. He will be called Daniel after you and he will know how brave a man you were. I will miss you, but I will live on for our son and for our daughter. I will always love you and will never love another. Sleep well my love and wait for me." She said a single tear rolling down her face.

Hermione took hold of her father's hand and looked at his peaceful face.

"Daddy, I am going to miss you. I knew that I would have to say goodbye one day, but I never believed it would be so soon. I need you to know that you did not die in vain; you saved Mum and your unborn son. I will live my life in honour of you and will live it with the values you gave me. Harry and I will look after Mum and baby Daniel and they will be safe, on that I promise you. You were my first role model and I love you very...much. Sleep well Daddy..." she broke off at this and cried into Harry's chest. Harry nodded to the Healer and she covered the dead man up once more and Harry led the two grieving women out of the room and back to the room Emma had been using. He conjured up some tea and the three sat down, talking quietly about the good times they had with Dan Granger.

After a while there was a knock on the door and Auror Davies was stood there looking grim. "I'm sorry to disturb you but I have some news. First we have identified you husband's killer, Mrs Granger. He was a man called Antonin Dolohov, a know Death Eater..."

Hermione had gasped at the news and clutched her chest as she remembered the curse she had suffered in the Ministry fight.

"What, did you know him love?" Emma asked. Hermione nodded.

"He was the one who gave me this scar." She said exposing a little of her chest.

"Well I'm glad I killed him then!" Emma said a little viciously.

Ryan nodded but continued. "Lord Potter...Harry, I have more bad news. We have just received word via an odd looking but very tired House Elf. There have been more attacks. It seems that your friend Neville grandmother was killed in an attack and I am sorry to say that your own aunt and uncle have been killed as well. I am so sorry for you loss." Ryan was surprised by the response he got from the young Lord.

"Madam Longbottom! Oh Shit! We need to get back home quickly. Ryan, what about my cousin?" he asked. Seeing the look on the Senior Aurors face he felt a little explanation was in order.

"I was not on very good terms with my mother's sister and her Husband." He almost spat the last phrase. "I'm sad there dead, but I will not grieve over them when more deserving souls demand my attention." He said as he glanced at Emma. As he spoke something tickled his memory. "House elf you say brought this message?"

"Yes, a most enthusiastic one at that. He was exhausted when he arrived, he had 'popped' himself all the way over from England in four stages. He told us that your cousin was not at the property when the attack took place and is well. As for the elf, we are treating him at the moment, but he will be fine.."

"Dobby!" Harry smiled.

With a small pop the elf appeared in front of Harry. He was staggering, obviously exhausted.

"Master Harry, Dobby is sorry, this was Dobby's fault!" he moaned. Harry knelt down to the elf and gently held his chin, lifting his face so he could look into the eyes of the distraught creature.

"Dobby how is this your fault?" he asked. As he spoke he was pouring some of his magic into the elf who was now looking a lot better and stronger.

"Well, not all of this but Dobby let Master Lovegood leave to go to his house. Dobby should of stopped him." He wailed.

"Dobby, Xeno was an adult Wizard. Did you warn him about leaving?" Harry asked. Dobby nodded. "Well then, he wasn't a prisoner in my house, he could come and go as he pleased. He knew the risks but chose to go anyway. You cannot be held responsible for the events that happened. Now are you feeling better?" he asked, as Dobby nodded Harry clasped him on the shoulder. "Good, you're a good elf Dobby, I'm happy to have you as part of my family. Thank you for bringing the news, even if it wasn't good news." He stood to face Ryan.

"Ryan, thank you for your hospitality and help. We have to go now, but when this is all over, let me buy you a drink or to. You have a lovely country and I would like to spend more time here." They clasped hands and Harry moved to Hermione. They both held Emma's hand and Harry took Dobby's with his free one. Before they left Harry waved his wand and in a quite empty room, Dan Granger left Australia for his last journey home. Harry nodded at Ryan and without a sound all four of them vanished. Ryan looked at the spot they had occupied for a little while before shaking his head and leaving the room.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Lord Voldemort was pleased with the way most of his plans had turned out. The only fly in the ointment was the disaster that happened in Australia. He looked at the almost alive remains of the Deatheater that had accompanied Dolohov to capture the Mudbloods parents. Both Deatheaters had paid the ultimate price for failure although many would say that Dolohov's fate was the kinder. All that in mind, Voldemort was certain that the blow that he had delivered to Potter and his band of do-gooders would be enough to send the boy into despair. Soon very soon Voldemort would kill the boy and the whole world would worship at his feet.

"Bella! Where are you?" he yelled. Bellatrix appeared within seconds of his call.

"Yes my Lord?" she asked, from her kneeling position.

"We need to increase our numbers. Send Greyback to bring the Werewolves and send an envoy to the Giants. Promise them Scotland if they come."

"Yes my Lord" Bella crooned as she left.

"Soon my pet! Soon!" he said as he petted his snake.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

"Molly! Calm down!" Arthur shouted as he tried to calm the house down. Dobby had vanished as soon as the news about Neville and the Dursleys had been announced and Luna was refusing to leave her father. Poppy had resorted to giving her a calming draught and had left to prepare Xeno's body for burial. The twins had arrived along with Charlie and they were sat with Ginny who still had her arms around a distraught Neville. Molly had become distressed by the continued absence of Harry and Hermione and had started panicking.

"They will be back as soon as they can. We need to be calm about these attacks." He told his wife more gently as she sobbed against his chest.

"Oh Arthur, this is horrible, first Xeno, then Augusta and Mr Granger. Even the sodding Dursleys didn't deserve to die. When will it end?" she asked.

"Soon Molly, soon." Came a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Harry and Hermione stood with Emma and Dobby. Harry was looking annoyed and sad but resolute.

"Everyone, I know this has been a bad day, Neville mate... You cannot know how sorry I am about your Gran. But Voldemort tried this to break us, he tried this to demoralise us, to make us easier targets. Well I say 'NO'. We bring anyone and everyone who is important to us here and then we go kill the bastard! He thought he could stop us, he is obviously worried about us, well let's give him something to worry about!" he said in a proud voice.

"Neville, you are like the brother I never had, Ginny you are my sister is all but blood. Molly and Arthur you are the parents I never had, and your boys are my brothers as well. Luna you are like my sister and daughter all rolled into one. I am proud of you all, I am proud to call you friends. This setback will not stop us; it will not make us weak. It makes us stronger and by Merlin we will win this war."

Neville stood and clasped Harry arm and was quickly followed by Arthur and the boys. Molly pulled him into a hug and then hugged Hermione and Emma.

After a little while Harry stood and spoke to Dobby. "Dobby, do you know where my cousin is?" he asked. Dobby nodded. "Can you take me to him?" he asked the elf. Dobby nodded once more.

"Do you want me to come?" Hermione asked him.

"Nah, stay with you mum, she needs you at the moment. We need to arrange to bury Dan and Xeno soon. Where do you want to put him love?" he asked her in a gentle voice. Hermione looked at her mother and shrugged. After a quick conversation Hermione turned back to her husband.

"Since I became a witch neither myself nor my parents are particularly religious, so in the small graveyard here will be fine. It's a beautiful location and Dad would of liked it here." She told him. Harry nodded and turned to Luna.

"Luna?" he asked. Luna looked at him with sad eyes and immediately said.

"With my Mother - at home. She's in the back garden and he would want to be with her."

Harry nodded and called for Winky.

"Winky can you go to the Lovegood's house and make sure that any traps and jinxes are removed from the property. Then can you prepare a grave for Xeno. We will put him next to his wife in a little while." Winky nodded solemnly and popped away.

"Won't be long." He said and Dobby took his hand and he vanished.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

They arrived at the house that Diggle had been using to a scene of chaos. People were milling about looking lost. On the floor four bodies lay, Petunia and Vernon Dursley were in one corner, Diggle was in the middle of the courtyard and in a doorway was the body of Hestia Jones. Sat next to the Dursley was Dudley who was accompanied by a pretty looking witch who was trying to comfort him. He looked up as Harry arrived and started to get red in the face before the witch spoke to him and he just looked lost again. Harry walked over the one of the witches who was covering Hestia with a blanket.

"What happened here?" he asked. The witch jumped as he spoke and her eyebrows rose as she recognised 'The Boy who Lived'. "Diggle killed 'em before he topped 'imself. His eyes were all funny like he was under a badly cast Imperious. We are going to bury them here and then scarper. Death eaters may be around soon." She said in a strong accent. Harry nodded to here and slowly walked over to his cousin. As he got closer the witch looked up at him and smiled slightly. Harry recognised her with a start as Lisa Turpin, a Ravenclaw from his year.

"Lisa" he said in greeting.

"Harry, go easy on him, he's not the man he was." Was all she said and she stood to go walk over to her parents. Harry knelt down to Dursley who was holding his mother's hand.

"They would have blamed you for all this you know Harry." He said before Harry had chance to speak. "Dad hated you; always did, you know that, but I don't think Mum did, not at the end anyway, I think she felt guilty about the way that we treated you. They look so peaceful, like they are just asleep you know. Lisa said it would have been quick, that they didn't feel a thing."

"I need you to know Harry, that I don't blame you for this, nor do I hate you. You saved my life from those Dementor things and it made me think. Why would you do that after the way we treated you? I couldn't figure it out for months, years even, but Lisa told me what you have done in your world, how much rests on your shoulders if the rumours are to be believed. You are a good man Harry; I'm not a good man but I'm learning and Lisa is teaching me."

It was the longest speech he had ever heard his cousin give and the content amazed him.

"Dudley, you may be a better man that you think. We need to get you out of here, bad people may be coming."

"I'm not going anywhere without Lisa." Dudley stated.

"Dud, that may not be possible..." Harry began

"No Lisa then no me. We just agreed to get married and I am not leaving my fiancé!" he stated gruffly. Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise at the news, but he wasn't quite as surprised as Lisa's parents who were stood a little way away listening to the conversation. Lisa blushed but looked proudly at her man and then at her parents.

"Is this true?" Mr Turpin asked his daughter.

"Yes Dad, Dud asked me just before all this happened. He is a good man and I love him, muggle or not." The Turpin's were muggles themselves with Lisa been the first magical child to be born in there family, so this was not a major issue as it would have been for some of the other families. Harry looked over at the Turpin's.

"Do you have anywhere to go that's safe?" he asked. George Turpin shook his head.

"Our house was destroyed six months ago by Death Eaters; we have been here ever since. Lisa is a target been a muggleborn and it seems so are we."

"You can come to my cottage, there will be room there. My wife is muggleborn and I can understand your situation. As my cousin and your daughter seem not to want to be parted and I can almost guarantee your safety, this seems to be the best solution." Harry said after a moment's thought.

The Turpin's quickly discussed the situation and agreed. "Good, Lisa go help your parents pack please." Harry asked them and they quickly left to do so.

"Dud, what do you want to do with your Mum and Dad?" he asked.

Dudley thought for a second and then asked for them to be buried in the grounds of the house they were in temporally. "When all this is over, we can bury them properly."

Harry nodded and quickly conjured up two stout wooden coffins. He levitated the bodies into them and they buried them in the garden of the house. He marked the graves with a simple wooden cross and carved their names on them. Dudley stood for a few moments with his head bowed before turning and seeing his fiancé stood waiting for him walked away from them to face a new future.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four – Saying Goodbye is the hardest thing to do!**

The next few days were some of the hardest Harry had to endure, in some ways they were even harder than when he had lost Sirius. The day after the events that caused such sadness and tragedy was the funeral of Xeno Lovegood. This was held at the odd looking house that the Lovegood's lived in. Even though the house was quite small, it was on a large plot of land, and towards the centre of the plot was a beautiful looking cottage garden. Within this was the grave of Luna's mother, and it was here that Luna wanted her father to lie. Her mother was in small plot, with an ornate grave maker. Her plot would always be surrounded by flowers when summer came around. The plot next to her mother was where she wanted her father to go. It was a simple service performed by the local vicar, an old friend of the Lovegood's who whilst not a wizard was aware of the magical world due him been a squib. The gathering was small and consisted of the Weasleys and Fleur, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were there to represent Hogwarts along with Hagrid who had an odd looking set of bagpipes in his arms. Towards the back of the group was the odd figure of Griphook and Silverfang, both there to pass on their respects and also to tell Harry that Ragnok needed to see him as soon as it was possible. Stood next to them were Remus and a very heavily pregnant Tonks. Stood by the side of Harry, Hermione and her mother was Neville and Ginny, his arms around the crying girl.

Neville had changed in the past few days, gone was the happy young man and in his place stood a hardened war veteran, despite all this something good had come out of the situation. He was just about holding himself together and was sad that this was an event that he would be unable to have for his grandmother.

 _Flashback_

 _As soon as he had heard about the attack on his ancestral home he and Harry had apparated to his house when Harry got back from picking up his cousin. Both were shocked by what they saw, there was nothing left above ground; the entire house had been razed to the ground leaving nothing more than a smoking ruin. They searched for the body of his Grandmother but found nothing; it seemed that the heat had been so intense that nothing earthly was left off Augusta Longbottom. Neville stood on the scorched earth where the house once stood and despite the heat wept for the loss of the only mother figure he had ever known. Harry had stood back and looked out over the ruins with tear stained eyes. With a sudden pop Ginny was at Neville's side and drew him into a deep embrace where he collapsed to his knees, taking the young redhead with him._

 _She held him saying soft words to him as he wept. Finally he stood and with a wave of his wand conjured a single red rose._

" _Gran, I know we didn't always get on.." he began in a faltering voice, "...you were occasionally a harsh mother to me, but despite that you were a good mother. I never told you enough how much you meant to me; how much I loved you...but I did. You were there for me when I fell as a child; you were there to pick me back up again. You were there to tell me I was been a prat and you were always there when I went to visit my parents. I know how hard it was for you to see your son in that state, and I promise I will never abandon them. I will dedicate my life to finding a cure for them and someday they will know of the sacrifice you made." At this point he pulled Ginny towards him. "Gran...mum this is Ginny; she means a lot to me and I know you never really knew her but one day if she will have me she will be the next Lady Longbottom." Ginny gasped and her hand flew to her face as she heard his words. Harry smiled and blinked away the tears that had formed in his eyes. Neville continued his conversation; "She is pretty and strong and she will always tell me when I am been a prat...just like you. I love her but have only just realised how much she means to me. You would have liked her. I have to go now, but I will avenge you and with my friend Harry we will make this world a safer place for our children." He broke off and gently kissed Ginny on the lips who by now was a blubbering mess. He wiped away her tears and gently held her hand._

" _Ginny Molly Weasley, I know this is not the most romantic place but it feels right to do this here with my family watching. This is my home and I will rebuild it, it looks liked nothing is left but there are underground cellars that are fireproofed and a lot of what my family owns is in them. I not Lord Longbottom yet, at the moment my father is still and nothing would make me more happy than for him to take up the lordship and I would help him rebuild our home. However that may not happen and if after a year and a day after my seventeenth his is still ill the title will pass to me and I will need a partner to help me rebuild and I can think of no one more suitable for the task that you. You captured my heart when I first met you and I have loved you from afar for years. You are strong, vivacious and a beautiful young woman. I know this is sudden but my heart is telling me that this is right and that you feel the same about me." Ginny nodded vigorously at this._

" _Ginevra know we have only just got together and it's too quick for an engagement but I know how I feel about you, I have for years. One day in the future will you do me the honour of one day becoming my wife and partner in all things?"_

 _By now the tears were rolling down both of their faces but despite this Ginny managed to nod her head and stutter a few words._

" _Neville, yes!" she said as she kissed him for all she was worth. Neville broke apart and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small box._

" _Now this is not an engagement ring but a promise ring, it's been in our family for years and I want you to have it along with my promise that when all this is over and if we are still together that I will ask you to marry me."_

 _Ginny squealed and allowed Neville to gently place the ring on her finger. She looked down and saw a thing gold band with two rubies set into it. With tears in her eyes she flung herself into his arms forcing them to the floor._

 _Eventually the two of them managed to stand and Harry walked over to the pair and embraced them both._

" _Thanks Harry...brother!" Neville said. As they walked away, Neville conjured up a large memorial stone with Augusta's name on it. It simply said on it under her name_

" _ **The strongest of woman, but the kindest in heart. We will never forget."**_

 _With a final look and with Neville whispering to himself that he would be back; they apparated away back to Potter cottage._

 _End Flashback_

Neville stood in the small group that surrounded the graveside in the Lovegood garden and thought back to the day he had made his promise to Ginny. They had decided to keep the news quite at least until after all the funerals that they had to attend, but it gave him enormous strength to know that this beautiful woman in his arms was hopefully to be his and he hers.

The vicar finished his service and stood to one side for Luna to walk forward. Despite the pale sunshine that bathed the garden in a soft golden light, Luna looked very pale, more so that the small vampire usually did. She was a sad figure; stood alone and small in the large garden. Despite her beauty she looked drawn and much older than her immortal years would suggest. In her hand she held a single white rose that she gently placed on the lid of the wooden coffin.

"Goodbye Daddy, I love you and always will. Look after Mummy for me will you and give me the strength to do what I must do to help Harry to save the world. I will miss you..." she cried the last as tears fell on the lid with a soft splash. She looked over to Harry and nodded her head.

Harry nodded back and waved his wand, causing the coffin to slowly sink into the ground. Luna moved back and was embraced by Hermione who held her close to her. In the air music could be heard as the sounds of 'Amazing Grace' was heard played on a lone pipe by Hagrid. As soon as the coffin was in the ground the earth above it moved back and grass began to grow along with beautiful wild flowers. A white gravestone stood over the plot complete with his name engraved in golden letters. Below that were the words

" _Death is not then end but just the beginning of the next great journey."_

Luna stood for a long while looking at the two graves before she turned away from them. She had a determined look on her face and her fangs had appeared.

"They will pay for this, I swear they will." She growled, her eyes flashing before they turned watery once more. She stumbled and Hermione ran forward and caught the small vampire and held her in an embrace as she cried. One by one the small group apparated back to the cottage leaving just Harry, Hermione and Luna; still held in the older woman's arms.

"Luna, I swear to you that I will not rest until those that did this are brought to the ultimate justice. Goyle will pay for this, as will all the others." Harry told her in a quiet voice.

"Thank you Harry, you are a good man. We had better get back for the next service." Luna said. At this Hermione took a deep intake of air. This was the bit she had been dreading. She had to say her last goodbyes to her father.

"Come on then, let's get this over with. My mother will need me as much as I need her for this bit." She said in a sad voice.

"Bye Daddy, Bye Mummy." Luna whispered.

With a soft 'pop' the three vanished leaving the two graves in the weak but golden sunlight.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Voldemort was asleep, this in itself was a rarity these days but not only was he asleep; he was dreaming a rare type of dream. This was a dream of the future and it was a true dream.

 _It was the far future, at least a few hundred years from now. The Wizarding world was dead, the last wizard to be killed was Harry Potter; slain by beheading moments after his wife was murdered. As soon as she was dead, Harry had known he was dead anyway, the bond between them not allowing anything else. Voldemort knew that in the years that followed the death of the last of the wizards, the whole planet was doomed. The human population were all slaves or food for the army of the evil ones. The only form of life allowed any freedom were the children of the original physic Vampire. The creature that was Ron, but now was only known as 'god' and he ruled the entire planet. The humans were his slaves as well as his food source, they were little more than cattle. He kept a few of the more intelligent ones to work on his grand plan. They were building ships of space, ships capable of interstellar flight. The being know as 'god' wanted to conquer the entire universe._

The dream shifted to thousands of years into the future.

 _Voldemort screamed in fear as he saw the last of the humans die and the planet that birthed him explode into a fiery ball. The vampires now ruled the known universe, subjecting all races that they encountered and using them as food. Nothing was allowed to live as they consumed the galaxy. Ron ruled as galactic ruler but now there was a problem, they had run out of races to eat and the countless hoards had turned on each other. Soon as Voldemort watched all life, even those evil ones burnt out. Ron was the last ever living creature alive, dying in pain and fear as the last glimmer of life was snuffed out. The cosmos was empty and silent. Nothing moved nor would it ever again._

Voldemort woke with a scream, tears of blood running down his face. In a rare moment of clarity he realised that this future could not – must not come to pass. Even in his darkest moments, Voldemort did not want to destroy the entire planet; never mind the universe. Life was good and although he wanted to rule, he needed people to rule over. He knew that if he survived his battle with Potter then he would have to stop the evil one. But he also realised that if he lost and was destroyed then Potter was the last hope for the peoples of the universe. He was in an unusual position of needing Potter to be an ally in this. He took out a quill and began to write.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Hermione Potter stood with her mother as they watched her father's coffin been gently lowered into the ground. They had dispensed with a religious ceremony in favour of a small family gathering to witness Dan been laid to rest in the beautiful small graveyard in the gardens of the cottage. Her lay a number of Potters and Hermione was honoured that Harry had allowed her father to lay with them. Emma was holding onto her immortal daughter with a strength that belied her small frame. She was watching the only man she had ever loved...the only man she would ever love been placed into the cold dark ground. The fact that Dan's killer was already dead was off little comfort as the coffin gently hit its final resting place. With a loud keening noise, Emma fell to her knees as she watched the earth been magically placed on top the wooded lid. As she fell to her knees she had pulled Hermione down with her. Harry was stood behind the pair with hands on each woman's shoulders as he tried in vain to offer some small measure of comfort. Hermione was starring at the scene in front of her with tears streaming down her face but with an intense look of almost fiery concentration on her face. Her magic was warping and wrapping around the pair of them causing the wind around them to blow and whip into their faces. As she stared at the scene actual flames were flickering around her body, caressing both her and her mother in a gentle dance. The air around the trio positively crackled with raw magic.

"Easy love." Harry whispered into his distraught wife's ear. Hermione slowly nodded and some of the magic bled away, but still the air reeked of ozone. When the earth was finally all back in place Harry conjured a shining white marble headstone with the words:-

Daniel Philip Granger

Born 4th June 1961

Died in battle 27th January 1998

Husband, Father, Hero

Emma managed to stand and with her daughter slowly walked over to the grave. She gently laid a white lily on the ground and rested her hand on the stone.

"G-g-g-goodbye my love, look over us and I will be with you eventually." She staggered back and into Harry's arms as Hermione said her goodbyes.

Hermione kissed her hand and placed it gently on the cool marble headstone. She had said most of her goodbyes whilst in Australia and felt that nothing was left to say.

"Goodbye Daddy." She whispered and with a final kiss of the stone she took her mother's hand and the two women walked slowly back to the small group stood watching the proceedings. Molly was crying, been comforted by her husband as yet another family suffered for the crimes of Voldemort.

Stood at the back of the group were Dudley and Lisa, Dudley was aware that he was not all that welcome in the group; he had apologised to Harry repeatedly for all the mistakes he had made in his short life and it seemed that Harry had accepted those apologies. The same could not be said for his friends, especially the young woman stood at Harry's side. The fact that she was his wife now confused Dudley; how could Harry be married so young? But it appeared to be true and this was just another topic of conversation that Dudley wished he could discuss for in the future. That was if Hermione didn't kill him first and judging by the glares she had been sending his way that was a distinct possibility. Hermione scared Dudley and the scene he had just witnessed scared him even more. He felt Lisa's hand tighten in his and he looked down at her to see her sadly smiling back at him.

"Don't worry, you're not that man anymore and she will eventually see that." Lisa whispered to him.

"Thanks, but I have a lot that need forgiving and I'm not sure if the tables were turned whether I would be able to forgive some of the things I've done over the years."

"Oh Dudley, the fact that you think that tells me that you are really sorry and both Harry and Hermione will eventually see that. How are you holding up with the loss of your parents?" she asked

"Okay I guess. I can see that Mum and Dad were not all that nicer a people especially to Harry but they were still my parents and I miss them. Now all I have left is Aunt Marge and she REALLY isn't a nice person." He said quietly.

"You have me." Lisa said, squeezing his hand.

"Yes, and I'm not sure how I would cope without you, you have been brilliant for me." Dudley said. "You made me realise that magic or not; we are all just people in the end and that is all that matters."

Unseen by the pair as they were so engrossed in their conversation they had missed the fact the Harry and Hermione had walked up to them. The ceremony had finished and the crowd were dispersing back to the cottage. Each little group in silent reflection as they walked back. Molly had taken her new friend Emma back to the house and both were trying to comfort each other; Molly for Emma's loss and Emma for Molly's loss of two of her sons.

Harry had heard most of Dudley's conversation as had Hermione. Hermione was in a bit of a quandary about Dudley. Initially she had wanted to hate and hex him to within an inch of his life for all the hurt he had caused her Harry. Especially on top of the hurt she was feeling herself for the loss of her father; she felt she just didn't have the time or the spare emotional feelings to feel for the large boy. However as she had listened and after she had spoken to Harry she began to see a new side of Dudley, and with Lisa's help maybe...just maybe this boy may grow into a man.

Dudley suddenly became aware that Harry was stood in front of him and looked up with a start. He flinched when he saw Hermione starring at him and this startled Hermione. She realised that Dudley was scared of her and this saddened her. She didn't want to be that scary and she hated the fact that this war and all that it entailed had made her into a figure that could scare a young man so much.

"H-H-Harry, I didn't see you there. Hermione I know that you hate me, but please let me say how sorry we...I... we.. are for your loss." Dudley stuttered as he looked at Hermione.

Hermione sighed and looked at first Lisa and then her cousin-in-law with sad eyes.

"Dudley, I don't hate you...I hated what you did to my Harry and it will take time but I can see a good man in you. Thank you for your condolences." And she leant over and briefly and gently kissed he cheek. Dudley looked startled and raised his hand to his cheek where her lips had touched him.

"Thank you Hermione, when all this is over I would like to get to know the real Harry and his wife, if that would be allowed."

Hermione nodded and after taking Harry's hand the couple slowly made their way back to the cottage followed a few seconds later by Lisa and Dudley.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was late in the evening and the cottage was silent as people were sleeping, or at least attempting to. In the master bedroom Hermione lay in her husband's arms, her eyes were red with tiredness and crying. The evening had been tough on everyone as everyone in the cottage had recently lost someone close to them. The Weasleys were still mourning for the loss of Percy, who they also buried that day as well as the loss of the young Ron all those years ago. Molly had taken the loss of her two sons very badly and had to be given a calming potion at some point in the evening. Luna was trying to put on a brave face, as she tucked into her chocolate and blood cake supper but anyone who knew her could see that she was suffering. Despite not been tired; Vampires it seemed didn't need that much sleep; she was still in bed. In fact she was sharing a bed with Emma who could not bear to be alone. Emma had spent most of the evening in the company of her daughter and son-in-law reminiscing about the good times that the Granger family had had. This had helped a little but when it came to bedtime, Emma just couldn't go alone; so the young vampire offered to go with her. This offer was eagerly taken up, although Emma did admit to herself to been a little afraid of the vampire, until Hermione had quietly explained to her mother the circumstances regarding Luna.

Before going to bed Harry had arranged to go to Hogwarts to meet with Neville and Ginny. Both had flooed back to Hogwarts earlier in the evening but both were keen to discuss the information that the couple had found whilst Harry and Hermione had been in Cornwall. With everything that had happened this information had not been spoken about and all felt that it was important to get back to the fight with Voldemort. Harry had also sent word that he would be visiting Gringotts the following day for his meeting with Ragnok.

#Harry?# Hermione thought to him using their mind link

#Yes love?# Harry replied back

#Don't let me cry anymore, it hurts to much.# She asked, the pain evident in her thoughts.

Harry tightened his hold on the young woman with him and started to gently stroke her hair. As he did so he could tell by the relaxing of her grip that it was having the desired effect and soon she was asleep. Only then did he stop and allow himself to follow her into the land of dreams. Before he did, he used their bond to enter her dreams and to make sure that she had good dreams during the night.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The following morning Harry, Luna and Hermione arrived at Hogwarts to meet with Ginny and Neville. Hermione was a little better today, especially after her good night's sleep as well as the knowledge that Molly and Emma were spending the day together. The two mothers had started to form a close friendship despite the differences in there upbringing. They had decided to drown there sorrows by going shopping, but in the muggle world as the magical word was not safe. Winky was to go with them, under a strong disillusionment charm in order to protect them. Hermione had given her mother her credit card and instructions to 'treat herself'. The two had left both nervous but aware that the alternative was moping around the cottage and Emma especially knew that Dan would have not wanted that and also that it couldn't be good for baby Daniel. Hermione had watched the pair depart with a little hope in her heart that her mother would be okay...eventually.

With a soft 'pop' the three arrived in the entrance hallway for the school and began to walk to the Great Hall. Entering the hall caused most of the usual conversation to dim as the school observed the trio walk in. After a few seconds all conversation stopped and one by one the entire body of students stood and removed their hats and bowed their heads in respect. The trio stood in the centre of the hall in a stunned silence as the whole school paid their respects to the fallen. Finally Minerva McGonagall walked over to the trio and with an uncharacteristic show of emotion took both Hermione and Luna in her arms. This seemed to be the signal the student body was waiting for and slowly they retook their seats and breakfast resumed.

"Luna, Hermione I am so sorry for you losses. I know it's hard now but as the time passes the hurt fades and your left with the happy memories of the people you have lost." She said. The two girls hugged her back before break away. There was a swirl of magic and stood before them was Cassie. From the Hufflepuff table Charlotte also walked over to the trio and both young girls embraced them.

"I'm so sorry Mummy and Auntie Luna." Cassie mumbled from her embrace and this sentiment was echoed by Charlotte. Seeing Harry stood alone, Charlotte let go of Hermione and Luna and walked over to him. Standing on her tiptoes she reached up and kissed him briefly on the lips; surprising Harry by the sudden kiss. He chocked a little and a Hermione looked up with a smile.

"Oi you, what have I told you about kissing my Husband."

"You mean OUR husband!" Charlotte replied with a cheeky grin.

"Minx!" Hermione laughed, making everyone smile. This had been Charlotte's plan all along and she was pleased that it worked. She was also pleased that she had kissed Harry once more if she was honest with herself.

"Well yes, that's all fine. Harry, Hermione, and Luna we have set aside a classroom for you meeting with young Miss Weasley and Master Longbottom. Is there anyone else you would like to attend with you?" the headmistress asked.

"Thank you Minerva, if Cassie could attend and perhaps yourself that would be good." Harry told her.

Cassie nodded and Minerva also said that she could attend. Charlotte pouted at Harry.

"Sorry 'Lottie but you have lessons to attend." Harry said with a grin.

"Bugger...sorry Headmistress... okay then Husband." She said before running back to the Hufflepuff table dodging Hermione along the way, her hair streaming behind her and laughing as she ran.

Everyone grinned before their faces turned serious once more. Cassie looked at the trio in front of her.

"Neville and Ginny are already waiting for us; Neville didn't want to be at breakfast with everyone else this morning, so I allowed them some food in the classroom. There should be plenty left if you would like to follow me." She told them and with that the small group followed the living embodiment of the magical school to the classroom and some possible answers.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five – Surprising Revelations**

Harry and Hermione followed Cassie as she led them to their meeting with Neville and Ginny aware that they had nothing else left to try. The needed to find the last Horcrux and destroy it if they were to finally kill Voldemort. Both felt nervous and each could feel the others apprehension through their bond. They soon arrived at the room assigned for them and Cassie opened the door. Inside Neville and Ginny were sat around a small table with books and maps surrounding them. As they both saw they others enter they both stood and walked over to them. Neville stood before Harry for a few seconds before briefly embracing him.

"Brother!" was all he said.

Ginny had walked over to Hermione and had also embraced her. This surprised the brunette as Ginny had been a bit standoffish since her marriage to Harry. Despite their earlier conversations, she felt Ginny still held a candle for Harry and blamed her for losing him.

"You okay Ginny?" she asked in a low voice.

"Yeah surprisingly, since Nev gave me his promise ring I have had time to think. I now know what real love is and it's nothing like what I thought I had with Harry. Love was in front of my eyes all this time and I never took the time to notice it. Despite all that has happened in the last few days, I have never been happier...oh I'm sorry Hermione that was very unfeeling of me." She apologised as she realised what she had said. Hermione just smiled at her and shook her head.

"My Dad would not have wanted people to stop living their lives just because of what happened. I'm sure that Nev's Gran would feel the same. Never apologise for been in love and happy; Merlin know we need every moment of happiness to count." She told the small redhead. Ginny smiled to herself and hugged Hermione once more, kissing her cheek gently as she did.

"Thanks...Sis." she said in a quiet voice before letting her go and moving to embrace Luna. The two hugged for a long while as Ginny tried to console the sad Vampire.

"Luna, I'm so sorry. We never really got time to talk yesterday and I want you to know that both Nev and I are here for you."

"Thanks Ginny, it's good to know that I have such good friends, I will be okay really and I know my Dad is with my Mum now, if I'm honest Daddy has been half with Mummy for a long while now and I spent a lot of time on m own. He never ever got over her death and part of me is happy that they are together once more. She is good for him, but I will miss him nevertheless."

"That's to be expected Luna, and how are you coping with been a vampire?" Neville asked as he had made his way over to the pair.

"Oh been a Vampire is great, I feel so strong and confident with that side of my being, plus Harry or Hermione are always happy to provide me with a meal." She said with a grin causing both Ginny and Neville to look a little green around the gills. Noticing this Luna laughed.

"Don't look like that!" she admonished them, "Just like you I need to eat and what's better than a never ending supply from my two friends. Plus it's not like it hurts them." She told them.

"Well yes, but do you think we should get on?" the headmistress asked from the doorway as she observed the youngsters reacquaint themselves with each other.

Ginny and Neville looked up at the headmistress, not having seen her when the group entered the room and nodded to her. They walked back to the table and took their seats, but quickly realised that due to the arrival of both Cassie and the headmistress they were two chairs missing. Harry looked around the room and not seeing any other chairs just looked back at the three empty ones and with a small pop two new chairs were present. Everyone except Hermione and Luna gasped at this show of powerful magic causing Harry to blush.

"What?" he asked.

"Mr Potter, you did that wandlessly, silently and without even a gesture. That is an amazing show of magic; even Albus at his most powerful could not do that." Professor McGonagall said in an awed voice.

With a grin, Hermione looked at the table and suddenly a tray of tea cups and a large pot of tea appeared complete with a plate of biscuits.

Minerva fell back into her chair with a gasp, "Merlin! Just how powerful are you two?" she asked, knowing they would not answer her. Harry just grinned at her and winked as he and the rest sat.

"Shall I be mother?" he asked as he took hold of the teapot.

"Cheeky! Yes please." The headmistress replied with a grin. After they had all drunk there tea Harry looked at Ginny and Neville with a curious gaze.

Neville cleared his throat. "Okay, but before we tell you what we found why don't you tell us anything you found in Cornwall?"

Harry grimaced as his two female companions grinned at him.

"What?" Neville asked in confusion.

"Nothing Nev, it's just that we found something out about my ancestry that these two find amusing, although I'm not sure why my dear wife is grinning like a lunatic when she is tarred with the same brush through marriage...# _Duchess!#"_ he thought the last word causing Hermione to pale and suddenly stop grinning. This caused Luna to laugh out loud.

"Okay you three, spill!" Ginny ordered.

Harry grimaced once more and began to tell them about the nearly wasted trip to the southern county and the hunt for the lake, including the trip on the tour bus. Finally he got to the finding of the secret room that Merlin had used and the conversation with the shade of Arthur. When he got to the bit about been Arthurs heir and Duke Pendragon he heard gasps from Neville, Ginny and Professor McGonagall. When he looked up all three were down on their knees with head bowed.

"NO,no no no no! This is what I was afraid of. I am no King, nor do I deserve anyone to bow to me – I am not another Voldemort; that's why I refused the throne or the title." Harry stated in a distraught voice. He walked over to the three and gently pulled them to their feet. Neville looked at him in confusion.

"My Liege?" he asked.

"No Neville, Harry! Just Harry to you and all of you. This country has a monarch and she seems to do a fine job as it is. I am just Harry..."

"Harry you will never be 'just Harry' but I can understand why you do not want this, but you have to know that you and Hermione will always be the true magical King and Queen of this county, and if you ever wanted to you could take up the mantle of that." The headmistress told him. Harry was almost in tears by this point."

"I cannot, nor do I want that attention Minerva. You know 'Mione's and my fate." he said, aware that Neville was the only one unaware of their immortality. "We cannot do that, it would eventually corrupt us and we would become that which we are fighting. I abdicated all rights to the throne and it is going to stay that way." Hermione nodded her agreement to his words. She had also become quite worried when the three bowed to them, the thought that she was also the rightful Queen scared her. Eventually the two of them managed to calm the situation and everyone retook their chairs, that was until Harry happened to mention that the Goblins needed to see him. This caused everyone to begin to speculate about the reason and the possible ramifications for the Wizarding world if the news about Harry and Hermione was to become public knowledge.

"They will tell you the same thing Harry, you cannot escape fate." Ginny said with a wry grin.

"I can dam well try, you just watch me!" Harry replied.

Ginny smiled back at him but said nothing.

Harry eventually took charge of the conversation, subconsciously convincing nearly everyone of his right to rule.

"Gin, Nev enough about us, what did you two discover because we have nothing." He asked them.

Neville looked over at his girlfriend and nodded to her. "Go on, you're the one who found it." He told her. Ginny blushed and shyly raised her head to look at the others.

"Well, Nev and I were looking through as many books as we could in order to try to find anything about the lake and the sword. We sorta figured out that the original location of the lake was most likely down in Cornwall but the sword had maybe been moved to a new location. However we could find nothing about the possible location of the sword, so I was flicking through books randomly; you know hoping inspiration would strike." She said with a grin at Hermione.

"It was then that I picked up your favourite book Hermione, 'Hogwarts a History' and that was when I found it. I was just reading the section on the founding of the school; you know it's written in a very old type of English with the modern translation alongside it. The page was describing the location of the castle when I found it mention the Black lake. I then looked up at the old version and guess what they called the lake... yup 'Llyn Du' Just like on the list you initially gave us. Apparently it's old welsh and it translates as Black Lake. I figured that it was too much of a coincidence to ignore so we sent Dobby to find you."

There was a long moment of silence before Harry let out the breath he had been holding in. "Whoa, you mean that the sword may of been under our noses all this time, here at Hogwarts?" he asked.

Hermione thought about it and looked up at him. "It kinda makes sense. Voldemort would love the irony of hiding his Horcrux right under our noses in one of the historical sites that the lake may have been; and the castles wards would keep it safe."

"But there is no island on the Black lake; it's just a lake, a big lake granted but just a lake." Professor McGonagall said.

"It could be hidden from view, as you say it's a big lake and we tend to avoid it." Harry said in a thoughtful voice. "Cassie can you tell if it's here?" he asked the human embodiment of the school.

Cassie looked like she was seeing things not in the room as she contemplated the question. "There is something Father, its faint and like it's not quite there but there is something. The lake is on the limit of my control and therefore not something I can scan easily but there is something. It's worth investigating." She told them.

"Well, it's a better lead than anything else we have, good work Ginny." Harry said much to the pleasure of the now blushing redhead.

"Okay, so what do we do next?" Neville asked.

"Well, we have to go to see the Goblins soon, but when we come back I suggest we fly over the lake and try to find this island. If that doesn't work then we may need a curse-breaker to help us find any island that maybe there." Harry said. As he spoke there was a tapping on the glass at the window and sat on the sill was a large black bird with evil looking red eyes. Everyone but Harry and Hermione raised their wands as they looked at the malevolent looking bird. Slowly Harry walked to the window and opened the latch allowing the bird entry. The large raven lifted up its leg and tied to it was a black envelope with silver writing on it.

"It's a letter addressed to me." Harry said.

"Careful, love it could be a trap." Hermione told him.

"Mmm-huh" Harry murmured as he wandless reached out with his magic and scanned to bird and the letter for traps. "No it's, clean" he finally announced and he reached over and quickly removed the letter from the bird. The raven glared at him with baleful eyes and as soon as the letter was released it took to its wings and flew out of the open window and into the dark sky. Harry watched the bird for a few seconds before shutting the window and returning to the table. He sat and slowly opened the letter. It was written on an odd looking pale material with dark red letters. As he unfolded it he heard Luna gasp in shock.

"What's matter Luna?" he asked.

"That's monstrous..evil and foul!" she grated.

"What?" Harry repeated confused.

"The letter, it's written on skin with blood, human blood and human skin!... Oh sweet Merlin, it's Draco's!" she now whispered in a strangled voice before turning and vomiting on the floor. Harry looked at her in horror as her words penetrated his understanding. With a gasp he dropped the letter on the desk and paled as he contemplated it. Hermione had moved to help Luna, keeping her hair out of the way as she emptied her stomach.

After a few moments Luna managed to get her stomach under control and sat back in her chair and looked at the questioning faces that surrounded her.

"The letter, it's written on human skin, human skin that once belonged to Draco Malfoy, and using his own blood... I can smell it." She explained.

"Sweet Merlin!" Neville said, "Who would do such a thing?" he asked.

"Voldemort!" was all Harry said.

"So Draco is dead?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I don't think he would survive this." Hermione said in a sick voice.

"Poor Draco, no one deserved that." Ginny said. "I know he was a total bastard but this... it's sick."

Harry contemplated the letter and the fate of his school nemesis. He found himself agreeing with Ginny, Malfoy was an evil twat, but not even he deserved this fate. Unwilling to touch the letter, he used his magic to open the folded skin and began to read the contents. As he read at first his face paled and then reddened as his temper spiked. Finally he began to swear like a sailor and everyone could feel the magic rolling off him in waves. Fearing a repeat of the events in Australia, Hermione quickly enveloped him is a hug and began to speak in his ear quietly.

"It's okay Harry, I understand how you feel, please calm down you are scaring people."

Eventually Harry began to calm and turned to look at his wife. "You know what it said?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I could hear it in your thoughts my love. Don't worry we can sort this." She told him. Everyone one else was looking confused so Harry used his magic to move the letter to Professor McGonagall who began to read it out loud.

' _Dear Potter_

 _By now I'm sure that your tame Vampire will have alerted you to the fact that this missive is written with the blood and on the skin off young Mr Malfoy. I was very displeased both with him and Serverus in their inability to kill you and as you can see Mr Malfoy has suffered punishment for this lack of ability. Who knew that the worthless son of Lucius would have finally been of use in some way? He screamed when I removed his hide in the most delightful way and Nagini enjoyed his meat. You will be consoled to know that his head is still alive due to an ancient and lovely curse I fell upon when reading one day. His bones and head still grace my wall and the sense of fear and pain I can sense from him as he silently screams is...delightful. I have similar plans for that traitor and coward, Snape. I will grant you a boon, if you can find the slippery Serverus and deliver him to me I will ensure that your Mudblood bitch of a whore will die a painless death when I kill you; and I will kill you. Nothing and no one can stand against me or my army, although I am curious how both you and the bitch are still alive, but I will get that information out of you when we next meet._

 _However it does pain me to tell you that I do need to inform you of something, I woke this morning after a vision struck me, a true vision that shocked me to my core. I wish to rule the world and beyond; that is my right as Lord and Master, but I wish to rule a world full of people to worship me, to serve me and to entertain me. I am sure that you are aware of the demon that is amongst us, the demon that wears the face of your friend Weasley. If he is not stopped I foresee a world where all humans, magical and muggle are under his rule. He will consume the world and all worlds beyond ours. All life will become the food for him and his kin until there is nothing left, no life in any world. This is an abomination and cannot come to pass. When I kill you I will destroy this monstrosity but in the unlikely event that you destroy me, I beg of you Brother; don't let this future come to pass, don't let this monster continue on this course or all will be lost. The world need life, life to serve its betters but this vision is that of an empty and desolate universe and is an abomination._

 _Know that our day of reckoning is coming and you have not the means or the power to defeat me. You can die in the knowledge that Lord Voldemort will destroy this demon and I will have the world to bow down before me._

 _Until we meet._

 _Lord Voldemort'_

There was a moment of silence as the words were absorbed before Minerva swore in Gaelic. Neville was slightly more English with his words.

"Fucking hell! Oh sweet fucking hell!" he swore. Even within his anger boiling Harry snorted a laugh at this statement.

"Yeah, like I need old 'Voldi-shit-for-brains' to tell me what to do." He said. "We need to stop this madman and soon."

As he looked up he saw the tears in the headmistress's eyes and he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Malfoy!" she explained. "Even after all he did, he was a boy in my care and I failed him. What that monster has done to him is evil and wrong. His soul must be screaming out for release."

Harry nodded his thoughts on Malfoy confused. There was a time when he would have gladly killed the blonde boy himself, but this? This sickened him and he found himself feeling sorry for Draco.

Harry looked at the letter and it suddenly burst into flames, burning and leaving nothing but ash.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Luna murmured as she watched the earthly remains of Draco burn.

"Snape? I wonder where he is?" Hermione mused. "I thought he'd gone back to Tom, but apparently not." She wondered.

"When we find him, he's mine!" snarled Cassie, causing everyone to look at her in a surprised way.

"What? He hurt my sister and myself. I get to have him when we find him, it's only fair." She whined.

"We have to find him first Cassie." Harry told her. "And I'm afraid that is low down on out 'to-do' list. First things first is Voldishorts."

"Aw but Dad!" Cassie whined bringing a smile to everyone's face.

"Harry, we have to get to Gringotts, Ragnok will be waiting for us." Hermione told him, standing and conjuring a warm cloak for herself. Harry nodded and stood as well, a cloak appearing in his hands.

"We will be back later this afternoon, Neville can you find 'Mione a broom as well as one for yourself. We will do a fly over the lake to see what we can find. Cassie will you be able to come with us to help?" he asked the school, aware that Hermione had tensed at the thought of flying. He took her hand and rubbed his finger over the back of her hand.

"Yes, but no broomstick required." She said as she silently raised herself above the floor. "Remember, I only look human, but I am far more." She turned to Hermione. "Mother, I will never let you fall, so please don't worry." She said to the panicking Hermione.

"It's not the falling that worries me; it's meeting the ground and the sudden stop when I finish falling." She said, much to everyone's amusement.

 _#'Mione, stop worrying, even if you fall, what's the worst that can happen?#_ Harry told her.

 _#Well I can die a horrible death and drown in the lake!#_

 _#Yeah but, you will just come around again and walk out.#_

 _#Git!#_

 _#Well that's mature!#_

 _#Big Git!#_

Harry laughed and learnt over and kissed her soundly. She blushed briefly before smacking him gently on the shoulder.

"Oh all right, we can use that blasted brooms, but if I die, I will kill you!" she told him. Everyone laughed except Neville who looked confused.

"Later Nev, I'll explain later." Harry told him and with a grin the immortal pair vanished from the room, causing everyone to gasp.

"I hate it when they do that." Professor McGonagall said to no one in particular.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Serverus Snape was limping down the narrow street in the magical area of Mexico with a pissed off expression on his face, his arm bandaged and his clothes ruined. He just couldn't understand what was happening or why. The other night he had walked into one of the seedier drinking dens in the magical quarter trying to recruit followers in his plan to be the next Dark Lord. When he entered he was aware that all the conversation stopped and everyone turned to look at him. Even in this seedier end of the area, the denizens were used to magical tourists and all spoke decent English; they were also eager for some entertainment. When this pasty, greasy looking wizard wandering in and announced himself as the next great Dark Lord and who wanted to follow him, hysterical laughter was not what Snape was expecting. As he tried to look powerful and once more declared his greatness, people falling off their chairs with tears rolling down their eyes was down-right rude. He then made the first mistake of the evening, he drew his wand and tried to cast a torture curse at one of the drinkers; thinking that his spell would prove his power and his evilness. That's what he thought would happen, what actually happened was absolutely nothing, no spell, no screaming – nothing, zip, nadda. Well that wasn't exactly accurate, what did happen was he felt a large knife pressing non to gently against his neck and turning he saw the largest man with the meanest expression he had ever seen.

"You is making a big mistake doing that Inglish. Whilst we like a laugh, casting spells like that ain't very friendly like and that's why we have anti-magic wards here. Now drop the wand Inglish!" he growled.

Severus dropped his wand with a whimper as he felt the knife digging into his neck further. As soon as the wand hit the floor, someone snatched it up quickly and it vanished into a pocket.

"Now that's better, any other wands? No? Good, now we don't need any Dark Lords 'ere. Dark Lords get the authority's involved and people get killed that way, it ends up that an honest criminal cannot make a living when we 'ave Dark Lords around so we's be thanking you for your kind offer, but we's be saying no." the man growled, others nodding at his words.

That was when Snape made his second mistake. As he felt the mad man remove the knife from his neck, he snarled and went for his own poisoned knife that he kept at all times. However the man was anticipating this and that was when Snape lost two of his fingers as well as his best knife.

"Bad idea Inglish, now I will be needing some money to clean my knife from your stinking blood. Your nice Inglish Galleons spend well over here so hand 'em over…..no? Boys, you know what to do."

Snape found himself a few minutes later without wand or a cloak, his knife missing along with two of his fingers and no money been thrown out of the drinking hole and into the gutter. He limped his way back to his hotel only to find that all his muggle money along with his passport had been stolen and the hotel had thrown him out. This was why he was pissed off and unknown to him, things were not about to get better.

"Severous Snape – freeze! Aurors!"

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry and Hermione walked arm in arm down Diagon Alley towards the bank, the sun was shining in the winter sky and despite the cold and frost it was a lovely looking day. Luna had stayed behind at Hogwarts wanting to spend some time with Ginny as she was missing her childhood friend, so it was just the pair of them. Hermione was feeling happy despite the events of the past few days. She felt happy in Harry's arms, safe and content to be with him and despite her love for the young blonde Vampire, it was nice to have some time just for the pair of them. Diagon Alley was busy and noisy despite the attack a few weeks ago. The fact that Voldemort had suffered a very visible defeat gave people the confidence to go out and the shops were busy and the restaurants full.

The pair approached the shining white building of the bank, the scars of the recent attacks still visible on the walls. The two goblin guards saluted the pair by crossing one of their arms across their breastplates and bowing their heads as the two approached. Harry nodded to the pair as the doors to the bank opened for them and they stepped inside. As soon as they entered a small goblin approached them and bowed deeply.

"Duke and Duchess Pendragon, Gringotts greats you. If you would kindly follow me, Lord Ragnok is waiting for you." He said in a quiet voice.

Harry groaned mentally causing him to hear a mental laugh from his mate.

 _#Don't laugh, they are including you in this absurdity. It's going to be one of those meeting!#_ he mentally told her.

Hermione just held her hand to her mouth and giggled slightly. Despite been the Duchess Pendragon she thought that none of it really mattered and eventually it would all fade away.

They followed the small Goblin to the board room that they had first met Ragnok in and once more the two guards on the door saluted and opened the doors for them. They entered the door and Ragnok earned Harry's undying gratitude with his first words.

"Harry, my friend, how are you?" came the guttural voice of the leader of the Goblins. Harry shot him a grateful look for his use of Harry's name and returned the compliment.

"Very well Ragnok, all things considered." This causal use of Ragnok's name caused a gasp in the small gathering of Goblins apart from Griphook and Silverfang, who were stood next to the great Goblin. Ragnok nodded at Harry before he looked over to Hermione.

"Lady Hermione, my condolences for your family's loss. If there is anything the Goblin nation can do to help either you or your esteemed mother please let me know. I understand that your mother killed the slime responsible for your father's death?"

"Yes sir, she ran him over and killed him with their car." She said in a sad voice.

"Who was it, if you don't mind me asking?" he asked as he motioned for them to sit. They all sat in comfortable chairs next to the desk of Ragnok.

"It was Antonin Dolohov sir." Hermione told him once they had seated. Ragnok raised an eyebrow at the news and motioned for Silverfang. They had a whispered conversation and Silverfang left the room at speed.

Hermione raised an eyebrow as she looked at the goblin that was looking back at her.

"By the rights of conquest, the contents of Antonin Dolohov now belong to the Lady Emma Granger, the Dolohov family is an old family and along with the title there is quite a bit of money." He told her.

"But my mother is a muggle, can she be allowed this?" Hermione asked.

"Muggle she may be, but due to her relationship with you Princess, she has the noblest of blood, and no one would question her right." He told her.

Hermione gaped at him. "Princess?" she asked. Ragnok laughed out loud at her tone.

"You really don't know do you? Both of you?" he asked. Both teens shook their heads at him.

"What do you know?" he asked, with honest curiosity.

After a moment, where he assumed that they were communicating mentally, Harry sighed and slowly began to speak. He told him about their trip to Cornwall and to Tintagel. He spoke of meeting the shade of Arthur and the fact that Harry was his heir. He also made it clear that he had abdicated the rights to the throne. When he was done, he looked at the Goblin with a confused look.

"Prince Pendragon, let me tell you a story. A few days ago we were alerted to the fact that Vault #2 reactivated. This is our second largest vault, and in all living memory has been sealed shut, along with its neighbour, vault #1. Now the first of these great vaults was unsealed a few weeks ago and once belonged to the great Emrys, and you both own that one. Vault #2 is the Pendragon family vault and no one knows exactly what is inside it. Imagine our surprise when it unsealed and both your names appear on the ledger, the last name on there was that of Arthur himself. Suffice to say the fact that you own both vaults means that neither of you will ever be short of money, even taking into account your immortality." He told them.

"But I abdicated….I.-I-I- I cannot be a Prince?" Harry stuttered.

"Yes, and that is why I can only address you as Prince and Princess and not King and Queen. Do you really think the magic would allow that to happen, you may have abdicated the throne, but you can never abdicate the title or the right. It is your right, your birthright and you are responsible and accountable to that birthright. You are both two people now, you are the Lord and Lady Harry Potter, with all the extra names added as well as the Dukedom that Arthur conferred on you, but you are also Prince Harry Pendragon and the Princess Hermione Pendragon - heirs apparent to the magical thrones of Great Britain and Ireland, now and forever. Now you can keep these facts quiet, the Goblin nation will always keep your secrets, but eventually the news will find its way into the public domain; these things always do. I agree that one man should not rule, and that a good democracy is always superior BUT you can do a lot of good with these titles and we do NOT have a good democracy at the moment." He told them. Pausing to take a sip of water he smiled at the two stunned faces looking at him.

"Since your little excursion to the Ministry, one Mr Dante Jugson is the new Minister. He is a puppet with very little intelligence; Voldemort is really in charge. Now at the moment there is not a lot we can do about that, but after Voldemort's defeat – and we do believe that you will do this – you can take charge of the entire Ministry, it is built on land that you now own. You can replace the entire Wizengamot and remove all the remaining Death-eaters and then hold fair elections for a just leader. We can have a true democracy, one that is fair to all magicals, including Goblins."

Harry sighed and held his face in his hand as the inevitability of the situation hit him. He felt Hermione take his hand in her own.

"We can do this Harry, we can do this in the background and keep it quiet. We do not have to let this ruin or run our lives, eventually even those that know will forget." She told him.

Taking a deep breath Harry looked up at the Goblin. "Okay, what do I need to do?" he asked.

"Nothing Harry other than to take the ring and place it on your finger. If you are the true heir then you will live, if you are lying then you will die, immortal or not." He said simply, pushing across a small leather box across the table. Harry looked at the box for a while before slowly taking it in his hand. Opening the box he looked at the relatively simple ring that laid in it. It was a buttery golden colour with a rampart lion and dragon stood in the shield in the centre. It was obviously very old and Harry started at it with shaking hands. With a resigned expression he took the ring and placed it gently on his finger, the other rings flaring into view as he did. The ring slowly resized itself and took its place on his finger. Slowly a deep purple light grew around Harry, and reached across to envelop Hermione. With a gasp she looked down and a smaller version of the ring appeared on her finger. The light grew until the goblins had to turn away before it faded. When it faded Harry and Hermione looked up to see all the goblins on their knees, with head bowed. Harry had tears running down his face as he looked at Ragnok.

"My Liege, this is the only time we will honour you this way as we know you do not wish this accolade. Because you don't want it that is why we honour you so."

"Stand Ragnok, please all of you stand." Harry begged. With a sigh the goblins stood and faced there new greatest hope for the future.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six – Looking for little Islands.**

It was a quiet Harry and Hermione that had left the bank a little while later. They had finished the conversation with Ragnok and before they had left they had visited their new vault. To say that they had been stunned was a slight understatement. The piles of gold were huge and the number of piles faded into the darkness of the huge vault. Griphook had shown them the balance but there comes a point when there are just too many noughts at the end of a number for it to have any meaning. The goblin had tried to tell them that they owned over ninety percent of the Wizarding world's gold, but they really didn't take the information on board. As well as the huge pile of gold in the vault there were many other beautiful items including jewels and precious gems, swords and armour as well as clothing. Hermione was drawn to some of the early books that were in a corner of the vault. They both avoided the two crowns that sat on a golden table in the centre of the vault. They were both fairly simple in design when compared with the currents monarch's crown; essentially nothing more than thin circlets of gold, one smaller than the other. They were however beautiful wrought with exquisite detail on the gold. It was clear that they were designed for a man and a woman, but it was what they represented that caused the pair to avoid them. They seemed to glow slightly in the dim light and both teens could feel the two crowns calling to them with an odd sort of pull that tugged at their magic.

Avoiding them Harry had found a beautiful bracelet of solid gold that he put on Hermione's wrist. It was about an inch thick and according to the label it had belonged to Queen Guinevere. It was covered in small emeralds and detailed carving of vine leaves and flowers covered the gold. Hermione had loved the bangle and with tears in her eyes had gently kissed her 'king'. After about half an hour of exploring they left the vault and asking Griphook for a complete accounting off all their holding and assets to be complied and forwarded to them; they left the bank.

They were walking along Diagon Alley in a bit of a daze, Harry holding Hermione's hand gently as they walked.

"Harry, I don't want to go back just yet, I need a sit down and a drink. Come on let's go into London and find a cafe." She finally said after a long silence as they both processed all that had happened to them.

"Okay, come on then." He replied and they both entered the Leaky Cauldron and exited into Muggle London. They were both slightly startled by the sudden assault of noise that came from the busy street but they soon found themselves a nice coffee outlet. Seated with coffee and a pastry they sat in silence as they drank their drinks and ate there food.

"Well..." Harry began

"Yes..." Hermione said after a moment.

"Wow..."

"Yeah..."

"So...?"

"So..."

Harry laughed at the pair of them before taking a deep breath.

"Well, you Majesty, what are we going to do about all of this?" he asked with a grin.

Hermione giggled at him before her expression turned serious. "We do NOT want anyone else to know about this, it would make our lives impossible...well more impossible than they are right now."

"Yeah...but all that gold 'Mione, it's almost obscene." He muttered.

"Yes it is, but we are hopefully going to be around for a very long time, and we can do a lot of good things for the world with that amount. I just hope you don't think I got together with you for your money." She said in a small voice.

"Hermione Jean Potter! Number one, we got together before we knew anything about the money, and two, and this a big one... It's OUR money, what's mine is yours etcetera, etcetera remember." He scolded her.

She looked down with a contrite expression on her face; that was until Harry gently lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her softly on the lips.

 _#You are mine, now and forever.#_ he thought to her.

 _#Now and forever.#_ she replied and kissed him back.

"What next love?" she asked.

"Well, we better get back to Hogwarts and check out that lake, I have a feeling things are coming to a head with Tom and we need to be ready."

"Oh no, that means brooms and flying." She moaned.

"Hey, don't what you are moaning about, my little immortal, it's not like you can hurt yourself."

"Git!" she said.

"You've already called me that love!" he told her with a grin.

She glared at him and did the only sensible thing she could think off; she stuck her tongue out at him, causing Harry to burst out laughing, which she soon followed.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Severus Snape woke up in a damp and dim room. There was a cold stone floor stretching out in front of him and he was laid on a rough wooden cot, with no blanket. The only source of light was a narrow window high up on the wall. The door was a metal cell style door with only a covered round window in the centre. There was no handle or keyhole and no obvious other way out. In the corner of the room was a steel bucket and a single dripping tap. It was cold, damp and unpleasant. As he laid there he tried to remember the events of the previous evening. He remembered going to the bar and the lack of respect that was shown to him by the occupants. He remembered been thrown out of the bar, along with a few missing teeth and a few extra bruises, but then...

'Oh Shit!' he thought to himself. 'The Aurors!" he thought as he instinctively felt for his wand. With a sigh he remembered loosing the item in the bar and shut his eyes and groaned. "Bloody Aurors!" he muttered as he recalled the events of the previous night. Not British Aurors, but a mixture of American and Mexican forces had accosted the potions master in the alleyway. With no wand and no other weapons the fight was quick and brief and the outcome was always going to be inevitable.

'How did they find me?' he thought to himself. 'I am so buggered!...but maybe I can talk my way out of this, they may grant me asylum.'

As he thought he heard the door unlock, he looked up and saw the one person he did not want to see.

"Hello Snape!" said Kingsley Shacklebolt. "We have been looking for you." He said with an evil grin.

"Shit!" said Snape.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry and Hermione left the coffee shop a little while later and were walking hand in hand along the street, Harry quickly cast a 'notice-me-not' charm over the pair of them and as they walked they faded away...

...only to re-appear walking down the corridors of Hogwarts towards the classroom they earlier been using. They were disturbed by a scream as both Lavender and Parvati stood open mouthed as they watched them appear like ghosts. Hermione grinned at her house mates and Harry winked at them as they walked into the classroom. They were just about to enter the room when a voice called out.

"Harry…. Hermione please wait." Lavender called out. The pair stopped and turned around to see the blonde witch walking towards them with a pensive look on her face. Parvati was stood at the end of the corridor, unsure of what to do.

"Lavender, how may we help you?" Harry asked politely.

Lavender took a deep breath and looked at Harry.

"Harry, where's Ron? Is he alright?" she asked. "I know something's happened and you were going to tell me when you first came back to the school, but we never seemed to be able to get around to the conversation. I'm worried about him." She finished.

Harry sighed and glanced at Hermione who had tears forming in her eyes. Taking a deep breath he took the young blonde hand and smiled a sad smile at her.

"Lavender, it's not an easy thing to say, but I very sad to tell you that Ron is dead. He's been dead for many years, since he was ten years of age…"

"No….No that's not possible…..No!" Lavender said starting to shake.

"Lav, the creature that we all knew as Ron was in fact a demon, a Soul Demon that had attacked him when he was a young boy. He tried to kill Hermione and me and is intent of killing many, many people, you included."

He had to hold the blonde up as her legs gave way beneath her. Gently lowering her to the ground he knelt next to her as she sobbed.

"But….But I ….I slept with him. Oh Sweet Merlin, I even thought I might have been pregnant by him, but it was a false alarm. Oh God, what am I going to do….I loved him so much." She wailed. Hermione had beckoned Parvati over and the two young women tried to comfort the distraught Gryffindor.

"Lavender, you need to keep this quiet. We don't want anyone else to know as it will put them at risk. As it is I need you to contact your parents and give them this portkey. It will take them to my house where they will be safe. When you leave here, you will need to go to the house as well. Ron may use you as bait to get to me or Hermione." He told her, handing her a small length of rope that he had just created.

"Don't use that name!" she snarled, now angry. "Ron is dead, that creature killed him and took my innocence. He does not deserve that good name." she said, startling Harry with the depth of her anger.

 _#Anger's good Harry, she can work when she's angry.#_ came the thought from Hermione.

Lavender looked up at Harry with a needy look. "You are going to go after it aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes, Lav we have to." He told her.

"Good! When you kill it, spit on it from me will you?" she asked.

Harry just nodded and once more Lavender collapsed crying in the arms of Parvati.

"I'll take her to the tower; we can get some food sent up." The Indian witch told them. She led the sobbing witch away leaving Harry with a sad Hermione in his arms.

"That's was…..crap!" she said.

"Yeah I know." Harry told her.

"Merlin, what if she had got pregnant, what the hell would have happened?"

"I don't know; I don't want to even think about it." He replied.

They stood for a while in each other's arms before turning back to the classroom.

As they entered they found the room empty with just the table left in the centre on the room. On the table lay a folded piece of parchment. Walking up to it, Harry picked it up and opened it, reading silently he smiled and looked over at his wife.

"We are to meet them in the Great Hall for lunch and then we will go investigate the lake. They have found you a nice Cleansweep broom that is very stable and won't go to fast or high. Madam Hooch has left it in the changing rooms near the pitch. I am to use one of the school ones...bugger that!" he said. Concentrating for a moment, he waved his hand over the table causing a familiar looking broomstick to appear. He heard Hermione gasp in surprise.

"Harry, that looks like your Firebolt, I thought you lost that when we tried to run from your Aunts house for the last time?" she asked.

"I did, it fell out of Hagrid's motorbike, and this is an exact replica that I've conjured." He said.

"Harry, that's impossible, even for us. You may conjure something that looks like your Firebolt but you cannot conjure something that will work like a Fire..." she broke off as Harry, grinning at her held the broom at waist height and let go, it floated and was positively vibrating with power.

"You were saying my lovely Bookworm?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"How? What? ...How?" she said.

"Well that sounded intelligent love!" Harry said, earning a thump on his arm. "Ow! Be careful of the hero. Us hero's bruise easily." He teased.

"You Bugger! Now you explain...NOW!" she told him with a mock scowl on her face.

Harry looked at her, with her lip pouting slightly. Never did she look lovelier he thought as he leant across and kissed her upturned lips.

"Think 'Mione, you have the knowledge. We were given it when we were resurrected for the first time. It's only since the last few days that the knowledge has started to make some sort of sense." He said. Hermione looked at him for a moment before her gaze turned inward. She started to bite her bottom lip in the way she did when she was concentrating. Harry found it irresistible and fought the urge to take her right there. Suddenly she gasped as the knowledge clicked into place within her brain.

"Merlin, oh sweet Merlin…wow!" she said as the power flowed through her. She could feel it tingling in her body and it made her fingers twitch as it coursed through her. She took Harry's hand and the power soared as his mingled with hers. As they embraced their eyes began to glow and the magic began to stream out of them in coloured ribbons within the air. They both kissed each other with a rare passion as the magic embraced them both. Finally they both calmed down and the magical storm subsided somewhat.

"Come on 'Mione, we need to get to the Hall for lunch." Harry said. They walked to the door which opened magically for them as they approached it. They strolled down the corridor unaware that other students were watching them as they approached the doors to the Great Hall. Entering the hall; the conversation died as people observed the pair enter the Hall. Unknown to the magical pair, as they walked they were leaving in their wake odd afterimages of themselves, almost like a timed delayed image of the pair, along with streamers of coloured magical energy. People were staring open mouthed at the oblivious couple, so enraptured they were in their own minds with each other. Neville ran up to them and placed his hand gently on Harry's arm.

"Harry! You're…. Well I don't know what you're doing but people are looking!" he grated. Harry looked around at the hall as if for the first time and saw the open mouthed stares of the students and staff alike; before he looked behind them and saw the magical streamers and after-images. With an embarrassed grin both he and Hermione managed to get a lid on their magic and the after-effects vanished.

"Oops, Sorry everyone!" he called out, causing a slight giggle to run around the hall. Harry and Hermione blushed as they slowly walked to the Gryffindor table and took their seats. Luna was already sat there, much to the confusion of some of the other Lions, and was grinning like a loon.

"Nice entrance you two! Boy do you know how to make an impression." She giggled. In front of her was a small dish containing her new favourite of blood cake. A few of the closest students were looking a little green as they had watched the vampire eat the concoction with relish before the interruption. As she looked up at her friends, a small dribble of blood fell down her chin.

"Oopsie, sorry." She giggled as she licked the dribble away, her fangs clearly visible.

"Oh Luna! Who volunteered this time?" Hermione asked with a smile. Ginny raised her hand, looking a little nauseous herself.

"Me, it was okay and didn't hurt once she taught me the spell, but blood and cake!?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's great. Wanna bit?" Luna asked, raising a loaded fork towards the red-head.

Ginny gulped and shook her head vigorously, her hands coming up to her mouth. "No thanks Luna, it's okay. I may never eat cake again, but it's okay."

Luna looked shocked at the thought of never eating cake again, and took a few seconds to look at the dripping blob of cake that was on her fork before opening her mouth and sinking her fangs into the sticky mess.

"There! Take that!" she told the offending cake, causing Harry and Hermione to laugh as they were used to the blonde's antics. Everyone else looked even greener that they had before. It wasn't long before the conversation changed to other matters.

"Harry, what the hell was all that about when you two came in, you looked awesome!" Seamus asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, what the hell's going on with you two?" Dean questioned a bit louder.

"Shush! That was a bit of an accident; we just discovered something to do with our powers and got a bit carried away." Hermione told them.

"Whoa! That's amazing! Just how powe…."

"Don't ask - you know we won't tell you!" Harry interrupted him with a grin.

As they spoke the food arrived on the table and they started to fill their plates. Harry looked around and saw that Cassie was sat at the teachers table next to Professor McGonagall, deep in conversation. As he looked at the pair, Cassie looked over at him and smiled and Professor McGonagall nodded her head to him, a gesture that he returned.

Realising that neither Harry nor Hermione were going to discuss their powers the conversation turned to more mundane matters, that was until Dean offered his condolences to both Hermione and Luna for the loss of their fathers. After that the conversation was a lot more subdued. During the meal neither Lavender nor Parvati made an appearance, and Harry had to explain to their friends that Lavender had been given some bad news and that Parvati was keeping her company. Harry wouldn't be drawn anymore on what that news was, saying that both Lavender and he had their reasons for keeping that knowledge secret.

Soon however, the meal was over and Harry stood, taking his broom with him.

"Nev, Ginny, you two ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just need to run up to the tower and get my broom, and Nev is still been a wuss about using a broom." Ginny told him with a grin as she ran off to the tower. Harry turned to the blushing Neville who was glaring at the retreating form of his promised.

"Nev?" he asked. Neville turned back to Harry and sighed.

"Harry, you know my history with brooms, are you sure that you want me to help?" he asked.

"Neville, we are not going to be playing Quidditch, and if Hermione is prepared to get on a broom, then you should have no problem." He told him, earning a smack on the arm from his wife at the same time.

"Oi you!" she said, causing Neville to laugh.

"Okay Harry, just make sure you pick me a good broom that will be easy to control." He asked.

Harry nodded and then turned to the teachers table and looked at Cassie.

 _#Cassie, you there?"_ he thought.

 _#Yes Father, I'll meet you down at the lake shore, I'm just explaining something to Minerva.#_ came the reply. Nodding at her, Harry lead his little group to the main doors. As they arrived they heard Ginny running down the corridor, with her broom in her hands.

"Ready?" Harry asked everyone. Getting nods from everyone, they all walked to the lake via the Quidditch changing areas where Harry picked up the two brooms for Neville and Hermione. Arriving at the lake they found Cassie waiting for them.

"Okay, what I propose is that we fly slowly over the lake a little way apart from each other in a criss-cross pattern so we cover as much as we can in the shortest time possible." He told them.

"What are we looking for Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Anything odd; any disturbance in the lake or any shimmering associated with a concealment charm. I can feel that there is something out there now that I am here, I guess that must be my connection to Arthur and Excalibur, but I cannot pinpoint where the island is."

"And if we find nothing?" Neville asked.

"Well then we get creative….that's my way of saying I don't know what to do if that happens. Let's worry about that if it does happen." He said.

Getting no other questions, they all mounted their brooms, Hermione been getting very nervous about getting onto hers. Harry slowly flew over to her and took her hand. He said nothing that the others were aware of but seemed to just stare into her eyes for a little while. Nodding her head, Hermione mounted her broom and flew up to Harry. Cassie smiled, knowing that Harry had just past on his knowledge and skill at flying to his wife, before she gently began to float unaided and joined the others on their brooms.

"Ready?" Harry asked. Everyone nodded and they began to slowly fly across the lake, about twenty meters apart from each other. It took a good ten minutes to make one pass of the lake, and once they got to the other edge they had a quick conference to see if anyone had found anything. Unfortunately nothing was spotted and so they made another pass.

An hour later they had covered nearly half the lake but still had found nothing. Getting worried, on the next pass Harry decided to fly high so he could see more of the lake. Half way through the pass he was looking down and noticed something odd. He was watching Hermione fly slowly and low over the lake. Despite the knowledge he had given her, she still suffered from a fear of heights, and had chosen to fly low; only a few feet above the surface of the lake. Despite Ginny telling her that she was at risk of attracting the attention of the giant squid, she refused to fly any higher. The others, Cassie included were flying at around thirty feet above the surface so it was only Hermione that suffered the oddity that occurred next. As Harry watched his wife she suddenly seemed to shimmer and slow down. Her image wavered for a few meters before normalising and she speeded up to her previous speed. She seemed unaware that anything untoward had happened, and looked up to see that she was a little behind the others and speeded up a little to catch up.

Harry felt his heart rate increase in excitement, and called everyone to stop but to stay where they were.

# _Mione, can you turn around and fly slowly back the way you just came please?#_ he asked her. Seeing her look at him with a questioning look, he smiled and nodded to her.

Slowly turning she flew back along the path she had just taken and Harry saw once more the strange shimmering and slowing of her flight until she came out of whatever she had flown into and speeded up.

 _#Mione, you can stop now. Did you feel anything odd just now?#_ he asked.

He saw Hermione think for a few seconds before she turned around and flew back to her first position when Harry had asked them to stop. As she flew he could see her really concentrating on her surroundings. Getting to the place the others were waiting she looked at Harry.

 _#Yes, Harry. I never noticed it the first two times, but that last time I felt slightly…..odd. I cannot put it into words but there was something there.#_ she thought back.

# _Stay where you are for the moment will you._ # he thought before calling the others to him and asked them to carefully watch Hermione as she flew back along the path for fourth time. They all watched the girl and everyone saw the shimmer and the odd slowing down of the flight.

"Harry, I see what you mean, there is something odd there." Neville said. Cassie watching the immortal witch flew down and followed the path she had taken and everyone saw the same thing happen to her. Flying back to the others, and been followed by Hermione she spoke to Harry.

"Yup, it's there. It's very odd, it's not a standard concealment charm or none that I've ever heard off; nor is it a standard Fidelius charm. That would make us completely ignore it. I've never felt anything like it before." She reported to the group.

Harry looked at the point in the lake and thought ' _Finiti Incantatem'_ but nothing happened. Frowning he then tried the revealing spell he also came up with nothing.

"We are going to need specialist help, we need a curse breaker." Harry said.

"What about Bill?" Ginny asked.

"Perfect! Cassie can you find this spot again?" he asked.

"Yes, now I know it's here I can find it easily enough."

"Good, then I suggest we get back to castle for a hot drink, its bloody cold out here. We will go to the cottage and ask Bill for help and come back tomorrow, yes?"

Everyone nodded and they made the flight back to the castle, with much happier hearts than they had before.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Unknown to Harry and his friends, Hermione's passage through the spot on the lake had not gone un-noticed. Voldemort was suddenly aware that his most important Horcrux was under threat and that the island that he had created to hide the precious item was in danger of been discovered. He could tell that the difficult and rare charm he had used to conceal the island had not been broken, but that someone had passed through the area. He was suddenly very fearful and knew that the time had come - the time to act.

Calling both Bellatrix and Pettigrew to him he stood at the foot of his throne.

"Our cause is threatened. It is time to act, we are to make ready to go to Hogwarts and we are going to destroy the school. If he is not there this will bring Potter out of hiding to face me. That is where I will kill him and all he holds dear." He told them

Bellatrix looked at Pettigrew with a worried look. Both knew that their forces were much depleted; both because of the deaths of a large number of Deatheaters due to Potter and his friends as well as the devastating loss of the Vampires. Voldemort saw the looks and this enraged him.

He threw two torture curses at his lieutenants for a few seconds before yelling at them.

"We are not going to wait, get the giants ready and tell Greyback to get his brothers and sisters ready. We march in two days' time. This war ends then, and we will be victorious." He yelled at them before dismissing them. However despite his bravado, he knew that this was a risk. His forces were down, and he wasn't sure if they would be strong enough but nothing could be allowed to threaten his Horcrux; he just had to take the risk.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Deep in a forest was a small wooden shack, forgotten by nearly everyone. Within the blood covered walls of the shack sat a dark figure. He was tall, over eight feet in height and his arms and legs were covered in a dark looking skin, almost like the chitin of the insect world. The smell was appalling, and bits of decaying bodies were scattered on the floor. The only human looking aspect of the figure was the head, complete with dirty red hair. The creature once known as Ronald Weasley had changed; he had grown strong and soon would need a new body and it was only his face that was left of the young man he had once been. He sat looking at an object on the rude table in front of him and grinned to himself. Soon he would need to procreate and give birth to a new breed of beings; ones that would allow him to rule the world and beyond. His species method of procreation was hideous to all. He would inject venom into a host who would incubate the new creatures that would develop. Once ready they would cause the host to explode casting millions of the small creatures into the air. Once they came into contact with another human they would take control of the body, killing the host's soul as their first meal. They would be loyal to him and him alone and with them he would consume all that this world could give in order to grow his army. He needed more power to allow this to happen and with the object in front of him and all it would represent it would give him the power to do so.

"Soon! Very soon." He crowed. "Potter may be powerful but he will fall at the foot of my army and I will destroy the world. I will rip his slut apart and force him to watch as she dies and his world with her. It will be delicious, it will be magnificent!"


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven – The On-coming storm.**

The small group landed back in front of the main entrance to the school. As they landed they were approached by the headmistress with an odd look on her face.

"Professor McGonagall, can we help you?" Harry asked politely.

"Well, I think we can help you. I have just had message from Kingsley. It seems that Oliver Wood was on holiday in Mexico when he stumbled across an old friend of ours. He contacted the local Auror force and they apprehended the miscreant. The Aurors contacted Kingsley and he went over to check it out and just sent message back to confirm."

"That's great Minerva, but who are we talking about." Hermione asked.

Minerva grinned at them; it was not often these days that she could get one over the pair so she was enjoying the moment.

"It's an old friend of your Harry, they have Snape!" she replied.

Harrys eyebrows rose into his hairline at the news and he was about to reply when he felt an increase in magic and the crack of thunder. Turning he saw Cassie with a dark expression on her face and magic crackling around her fingers.

"HE'S MINE! I WANT THAT BASTARD BROUGHT TO ME AND I WILL KILL HIM, I'LL RIP HIS BODY APART, I WILL TORTURE HIS SOUL UNTIL THE END OD DAYS, I WILL MAKE HIM PAY FOR WHAT HE DID TO ME!" she growled in a voice no one had heard from the school before. She had reverted to her adult form and her dress had taken a dark colour.

"Cassie….CASSIE! CALM DOWN." Harry ended up yelling at her.

The magical being ignored him and Harry had to walk over to her and showing true Gryffindor courage, he grabbed her sparking arms and held them as he looked into her glowing eyes.

"Cassie, not now, you need to calm down." He said to her gently. Slowly Cassie seemed to calm and the magical storm that had erupted around her died away.

"Father…..I'm sorry…" she said in a broken voice. "He hurt me so much though." She whispered as Harry drew her into an embrace, as he held her she slowly reverted back to her child-like form.

"I know Cassie, I know but you are better than that; you are better than HIM, you do not want to tread that path." He told the distraught woman.

She sobbed against his chest as he held her; Hermione moved across and held the pair as well. Looking up Harry spoke to the headmistress.

"What is Kingsley going to do with him?"

"Well he was going to use an international portkey and bring him here, but now I'm not too sure." She replied to him.

Cassie looked up and wiped her eyes. "Minerva, bring him here, I will behave but if he tries anything then….. Has anyone told 'Lotte?" she asked.

"Goodness, no; I have better have a word with her." The headmistress replied.

"Don't worry Headmistress, Harry and I will talk to her. We will also speak to our angry daughter as well." Hermione told her casting a look at the now subdued entity.

"Sorry mother." Cassie told her.

"Don't worry love, its fine." She told the young entity in her arms.

"Ok, can you ask Kingsley to bring him her, I want him contained and in magical suppression cuffs before he leaves Mexico, did you say? Yes, ok. Bring him straight to the dungeons we are using for the others. I don't want him in contact with any of the students." Harry told her sternly

"Off course Lord Emrys." The Headmistress replied aware that Harry had taken charge of the situation. "How was the search, did you find what you were looking for?" Professor McGonagall asked trying to change the subject.

"Good, we have a lead but with your permission we need to bring in a curse breaker. We were going to ask Bill Weasley – keeping it in the family as it were." Harry told her, reverting back to student mode rather than school owner.

"Off course that will be no problem. Will you be staying here tonight?" she asked.

"No I think we will go see Charlotte and then go home; Luna?" he asked turning to the Vampire.

"I think I'll come with you, I'm getting hungry and people here seem to turn a little green when I have my meal. At least with you two you don't seem to mind." She replied back to them.

Hermione giggled as she flung her arm around the shoulders of the young vampire.

"No Luna, we don't mind at all. Cassie, where is your sister? Is she in her quarters or the Hufflepuff rooms" she asked the school.

"Her parents are not here right now so she's with her friends in the dorm room, you know the way?" Cassie replied.

Hermione shut her eyes for a second before nodding. "Yeah, coming Harry?" she asked. Harry stood and the pair walked away towards the Hufflepuff dorms, followed by the blonde Ravenclaw.

The trio soon made their way to their way to the Hufflepuff dorms which were located in the basements with the entrance located along the kitchen corridor. As they walked up to it, instead of having to tap the barrels covering the entrance, they silently and swiftly moved out of the way as the school recognised its true owners. They entered the low ceilinged room much to the surprise of the students sat in the chairs and at the tables working. One of the elder students, not immediately recognising the three, jumped up with his wand raised.

"Who the hell are you?" he yelled before his hand was lowered by another hand placing it gently on his.

"You really don't want to do that." Hannah Abbot gently told him. "You really don't want the consequences of upsetting Lord and Lady Hufflepuff now do you?" she told him. The students eyes widened as he recognised the pair and his body started to shake. Harry finally took pity on him.

"Not to worry, no harm done. You have quick reactions though." He complimented the student.

"Thank you Lord Hufflepuff, sorry for any offence." He stuttered.

"It's Harry, just Harry." He replied much to Hermione's amusement. With a glare at his wife he continued. "And no offence taken, thank you Hannah." He told them. The student sat back down and Harry and Hermione wandered over to where Hannah had been sitting with Susan.

"Hannah how are you? Is Susan treating my 'sis' well?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Very well Brother, I still miss my Dad but Sue and my friends have been amazing. Now that we are a couple I was worried about been accepted, but apart from a few stupid comments from some of the Snakes, everyone has been brilliant." She said with some enthusiasm. Susan had cuddled up to her on the soft looking sofa and Hannah had put her arm around the red head as she spoke.

"So have you two thought about a date?" Hermione asked.

"No not yet, we are sorta waiting on Harry to ...er you know... get rid of him." Susan replied, blushing as she spoke.

Harry snorted at this and muttered under his breath, "You and everyone else." Before stating in a louder voice, "Trust me, were working on it."

"Sorry Harry, that must of sounded really whiney. I didn't mean it that way." Susan said. "If only Auntie was still around we would have more of an Auror force but since she was ki..." she broke of as the tears formed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Susan, I really didn't mean anything by it, and I am sorry about your Aunt, I never really spoke to you about it; she was a good woman." Harry said.

"I still miss her, she was like a mother to me, if it wasn't for Han, I'd be all alone in the world." She said, causing Hannah to gently kiss her cheek. After a little while, Susan looked back up at the trio in front of her.

"Not that is isn't nice to see you three, but I'm guessing that there is another reason for you coming here?"

"Yes, can we speak to Charlotte please if she's around?" Harry said.

Hannah stood and walked up to one of the other students. "Can you run up to the first year dorm and ask if 'Lotte can come down please." The student nodded and ran up the stairs. A few minutes later there was a noise of a few people coming down the stairs. In the middle of a group was Charlotte who upon seeing Harry and Hermione gave a shriek and ran over to the pair, throwing herself into their arms.

"'Mione! Harry!" she yelled as she smothered the pair with kisses, taking a little more time with Harry than absolutely necessary."Mione, I'm so so sorry about your Dad." She said with a few tears in her eyes.

"Thank you 'Lotte that means a lot to me." She told the young girl.

Charlotte kissed Hermione on the cheek before turning to the small group of girls stood at the back of the room.

"Come and say hello to my friends." She enthused, dragging the pair to the small huddle of nervous looking first years.

"Everyone, this is Harry and Hermione. They are the ones that saved my life!" she told the group.

"'Lotte, I don't think they need to be told who they are, everyone knows who they are." Hannah told the excited young girl.

"Oh Yeah!" Charlotte replied with a growing blush.

"Why don't you introduce your friends to us?" Hermione kindly asked.

"Well, this is my friend Tracy Dabshaw, her mum is a Muggle and her dad is a wizard." She told them pointing to a small brunette with a pretty face. "This is Lorna Yu, her dad is from China and her mum is Welsh." She said indicating a tall willowy girl with pretty oriental features and starling green eyes. "And this is Rebecca Saltash or Becky as we call her." Finally indicating the small red head that was sat with the others. All three girls shyly nodded at the famous pair with nervous smiles on their faces.

"Hello, I'm Harry, this is my wife Hermione and this is our good friend Luna." Harry told them. Luna smiled and grinned, showing her fangs as she did. All three girls looked scared and jumped backwards.

"Don't be afraid of Luna, sure she's a Vampire but she's a good Vampire aren't you Luna?" Charlotte told them as she hugged the blonde girl.

"Charlotte, we need to talk to you about something serious, would you mind if we stepped out for a little while with you. This information is quite sensitive." Harry told her. Charlotte looked nervous and nodded and led the trio to her quarters that were adjacent to the Hufflepuff's rooms. As soon as they were in the large and comfortable living area Charlotte turned around to face her friends.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "It's not my parents is it?"

"No 'Lotte, your parents are fine, but we do have some news for you. Snape has been found and he is being brought back here..."

"That BASTARD! I'll kill him, I'll rip his knackers off, and I'll rip out his heart and eat it, I'll, I'll,I'll..." she spluttered in rage.

"Charlotte Perkins, you will do no such thing. You are better than that and you know it!" Harry told her sternly but with a kind look on his face. "You are been told this because you have the right to know and you may bump into him when he is been transferred here, but Snape will stand trial for his crimes when all this is over and he will pay the price, but you will not harm him."

"Aww Harrrryy, can I not just beat him up a bit?" she whined.

"I will allow you to face him; you have that right to face your demons, but that is all." He told her. "If it's any consolation, I had to have the same conversation with Cassie; she wanted to hurt him as well. Charlotte, killing someone, no matter how justified does things to a person, trust me I know. You are still young and I would spare you than anguish if I can. You will live a long, long time and I'm sure in that time you may end up having to kill someone but not when you are a child, not if we can help it. I had to kill someone at eleven and trust me you do not want that mark on your soul." He told her. Hermione had taken his hand as he spoke and rested her head against his shoulder in support. Charlotte looked angry for a while before she sighed.

"I guess you're right, but I want to see him, I want to look into the eyes of a man who could do that to a child."

Harry nodded to her; she deserved to see her aggressor and murderer. It would not be easy for her, but he could see how she needed to do this. As they stood there Harry became aware that Cassie had arrived and she walked over to hold the young girl.

"Don't worry 'Lotte, I will not let him harm either of us again, ever again." She told her.

Charlotte hugged the entity back and soon cheered up.

"Ok, so when is the slimy greasy git getting here?" she asked.

"Not sure, but soon. Don't worry we will make sure he doesn't spoil your home." Harry told the young girl. Charlotte raised her eyes a little as she thought about Harry's statement. He was right; Hogwarts was her home, more so than any other student. She was tied to the castle in a very unique way, and the thought of someone with such evilness about them been brought into her home sickened her.

"Good, make sure he doesn't, and when all this is over I want him and the rest of that slime out of my dungeons... well your dungeons Harry but you know what I mean." She said with a blush as the end.

"Lotte, for as long as you are alive, Hogwarts is your home, it will always be yours if you want it." He gently told her.

"Thanks Harry, that means a lot to me." She whispered.

"How are you getting on?" Hermione asked her.

"Oh great, my friends have accepted me and my mum and dad are happy that I am alive. They are planning on staying here during the holidays and we going to have some of their furniture brought here. Cassie has made a set of rooms for them and we are hoping to ward them so electrical items will work here. My dad is hoping that his telly will work her cos he doesn't want to miss Match of the Day. My studies are coming along really well, since my ...er accident it seems my magical powers have grown quite a bit." She told them.

"Well that's good, if you want a hand with the wards for your dad just let me know." Hermione told her.

They all chatted for a while before Harry and Hermione decided to make a move. Kissing 'Lotte and Cassie on the cheeks, much to Charlotte's embarrassment; Harry took hold of Luna's hand and with a wave the three vanished from the room.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Silently the trio arrived in the hallway of the cottage, only to hear a ranging argument coming from the kitchen area. Raising an eyebrow they all walked quickly to the kitchen to be met with Dudley cowering behind Lisa who was holding her wand on Fred and George Weasley. Molly was stood in the centre of the two camps with her arms raised to both sides. Lisa was yelling at the Twins, who in turn were laughing at her.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Harry yelled in a loud voice, making all the occupants jump in surprise.

"Oh Harry, thank Merlin your back. I was thinking I was going to have to hex both sides to stop them." Molly gushed at him.

"Yes well that's good, but could someone please explain why you are in this predicament?" Harry growled.

Everyone started talking at once causing Harry to raise his hand in anger.

"Lisa, you first." He said.

"Well, these two were planning on pranking poor Dudley here once they found out that he was here. I know that he hasn't always been an angel but I overheard some of the things they were going to do to him and I just had to stop them." She said, with Dudley still behind her nodding his head as she spoke.

"I see, Boys?" he replied looking at the two twins.

"Well, it's like this.."

"..He's a Dursley and.."

".. they all deserve a hard time..

"..for what they did to you..."

"so we are just..."

"..looking out for you Harry."

The twins replied in that annoying manner they sometimes adopted when they wanted to swing peoples opinion.

"Boys, if you continue to speak like that you will annoy me, and that's something you do not want to do. Now Dudley is a Dursley, and yes he has done some questionable things in the past, but we cleared the air between us the other night and besides that he has just lost both his parents and above everything else, HE IS A GUEST IN MY HOUSE AND HE WILL BE TREATED WITH RESPECT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND." He yelled magic crackling off him and making the air smell of ozone. Both twins backed away with fear in their eyes as they looked at the pissed off mage.

"Yes Harry." George said

"Sorry Harry." Fred replied

"Sorry Dudley." They both said.

"That's better now, I know Dudley has mistakes to atone for, but he is trying and I for one am going to allow him to try, now please can we all..."

He was interrupted by Remus running into the room with a wild expression of his face. He ran up to Harry grabbing his shoulders with both of his hands.

"Lupin...Lupin...Remus what is it? Has there been an attack?" Harry asked, with fear in his voice.

"It's...Its...Tonks...She's..." he stuttered; his eyes wild.

"Calm down man, what's happening?" Harry asked, now getting worried.

Remus took a deep breath and tried to calm down; finally he was able to talk.

"It's Tonks, she's having a baby!" he finally said, pleased with himself for getting out a full sentence.

"Yes Remus, we know she's having a baby. That's what pregnant women do." Harry calmly told him.

"No, no, no! You don't understand. She's having a baby now! Her waters just broke." The wild eyed werewolf told him. Harry gaped at him in surprise. His mouth opening and closing in a pale imitation of the man in front of him. Hermione sighed to herself.

"Molly can you go to Tonks, I'll get Poppy here and then sit these two down. Twins –bugger off! Lisa can you take Dudley back to your rooms for the moment please – thanks." She said, looking at the giggling Luna with a disapproving look. Waving her hand she conjured a tall glass and with another gesture it was full of blood. "Luna, dinner! Look after Remus and Harry please." She told the now happy vampire who was clutching the warm glass to herself.

Hermione walked over to the fire and tossed in a handful of glittering floo powder and proceeded to poke her head into the green flames. Speaking to the unseen Mediwitch she had a brief conversation during which Molly had ran up the room shared by Tonks and the wolf. Harry and Remus were sat at the table looking wild around the eyes as Luna merrily drank her dinner. A few minutes later the fire flared once more and the figure of Poppy Pomfrey stepped through.

"Where is the mother to be?" she asked Hermione.

"Through here Poppy, thank you for coming." She replied. As they were about to leave Molly arrived with a grin on her face.

"She's not got long Poppy, but she said and I quote; 'Get that fucking wolf up here now! He got me in this situation and if he thinks he's sitting downstairs whilst I push this small human through my fanny he has another thing coming!'" the red-haired witch said, her face almost as red as her hair with the swearing.

"Oh Shit!" Remus said as he stood.

"Come on Remus, it won't be that bad." Poppy smiled as she took the unresisting hand of the man to his room. Molly looked around at the three people left and smiled.

"I'll put the kettle on then shall I? A nice cup of tea whilst we wait."

A few hours later the kitchen was full of people. The twins had crept back in and were sat with Bill and Fleur who despite teaching at Hogwarts chose to spend most of their evenings at the cottage. Emma Granger was sat with Molly who was sat with her head on Arthurs shoulder. Dudley and Lisa and her family were sat at the second table. Someone had travelled to Andromeda's house and the grieving wife had run up to her daughters room to be with her for the birth of her grandchild. It had only been a few weeks since the death of Ted Tonks had been announced; killed by snatchers it seemed. Andromeda had taken the news badly and had asked to be left to grieve alone, but the imminent birth of her grandchild was enough for her to break her solitude and make the journey to the cottage.

Harry made his way over to Bill and Fleur.

"Bill, can I ask a favour of you please?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Sure Harry, how can I help?" came the reply

"Well, I need your Curse Breaking skills tomorrow if you are free."

Bill raised an eyebrow at the younger man as motioned for him to continue.

"We are looking for the last Horcrux as you know and we know that it's Excalibur. We don't however know exactly where it is but we believe that it's in a secret location on an island on a lake somewhere. We did some tests today after Ginny found some reference that the lake may be the Black lake and we found something most odd when we flew across the lake." Harry explained. He went on to tell Bill about the odd disturbance that occurred when Hermione flew through the location they had found.

"Well, it does sound promising, and the sort of thing that I can help you with. You say that someone checked the area and found no sign of a concealment charm?"

"Yeah, nor a Fidelius, but she did say that something odd was there."

"Ok, we can check it out tomorrow, if that's okay with you Fleur?" he asked his wife.

Fleur nodded and turned to Harry.

"'Arry, may I come along please? I am studying curse breaking with Bill and this may be helpful."

"If you're sure Fleur and so long as Bill's happy then sure, I don't see why not." Harry replied. Bill nodded at his wife and soon their thoughts turned to the events unfolding upstairs, Bill's hand caressing his wife's stomach.

It was late and suddenly after numerous cups of tea the sudden sound of a wailing baby could be heard within the walls of the cottage. For some reason the sound of the cries brought tears to Harry's eyes and he clutched at Hermione's hand. For the sound was that of hope and innocence. Hope that the future would bring better times for the new soul that had suddenly arrived in the world. A soul full of innocence and raw potential that it made Harry's heart beat faster. He had to win; he had to stop the evil if that innocent soul was to have the life it deserved. Hermione looked over at him with tear filled eyes and nodded her head in silent agreement with him. She rested her head on his shoulder and briefly shut her eyes. A few minutes later the door opened and Remus came in with a wondrous expression on his face, his eyes moist from tears. He was carrying a small bundle, wrapped in a clean white blanket.

"Everyone, I want you to meet my son. I want you all to meet Teddy Lupin, named after his brave grandfather." He said in an awed voice. "Harry, Hermione we want you to be god-parents if you would consent please." He told the awed pair.

Slowly Harry stood followed by Hermione. They made the slow walk over to the man and both peered at the small face of Teddy. Bright blue eyes gazed back at them and as they looked they slowly turned green and then a golden brown colour. All three gasped at the sight, evidently Teddy had inherited his mothers Metamorphmagus ability.

"We would be honoured Remus, honoured." Harry said with a choke as he gently brushed his finger against the cheek of his new god-son.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The ten giants stretched as they awoke in the large forest near the Malfoy's manor. One of them lumbered over to the food pen and reached in for a snack. The muggle woman screamed at the giant incoherently, only for the cried to be suddenly cut off as the creature bit the woman in half. Smacking it lips together it finished off its breakfast before walking over to the stream to drink its fill. It momentarily raised it head as it heard the screeches of over a dozen trolls that were penned at the other side of the field. This in turn woke the dragons who roared at the trolls. The few Deatheaters that were looking after the growing army ran to try to calm the situation before the dragons got loose again. That had happened the previous evening and two of the trolls had found themselves as dragon food before order could be restored. The manor house was full to the brim with new recruits as well as seasoned Deatheaters. Voldemort had managed to nearly double his numbers with new recruits and with the addition of the dragons and trolls his army was nearly complete.

"Wormtail! Where are you? You useless excuse for a wizard?" Voldemort yelled. The cowering wizard ran into the throne room and nearly flung himself on the floor.

"My Lord, How may I serve you?" he asked.

Voldemort glared at the man prostrated in front of him and considered killing him, but he needed the rat's organisation skills.

"Numbers Rat? How many Dementors do we have?"

"Over five hundred my Lord, they are currently feasting on a nearby muggle village."

"Good, and with addition of the Inferi we are nearly ready. The loss of the Vampires is ...troubling but we will wipe the so called army of light from the face of the Earth."

"When do we go my Lord?" Wormtail asked in a gleeful voice.

"Soon my little rat, soon. We will go to Hogwarts then and we will kill them all. Send in Bellatrix, I need to sate my hunger and her body will please me."

Wormtail left the Dark Lord as Bellatrix wafted into the room naked and with a lustful look on her face.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The figure walked slowly down the almost deserted alley. The figure was tall and slender but of the features nothing could be seen due to the large hooded cloak that was being worn. It made its way past the whores and beggars that lined the sides of Knockturn Alley before it entered the more salubrious surroundings of Diagon Alley. Despite the lateness of the hour some of the restaurants and drinking establishments were still open and the street lamps lit the alley in a flickering but friendly light. The figure made its way to the gleaming white building of Gringotts. Always open, the guards stiffened as they watched the approaching figure. When close enough they dropped their halberds to block the way.

"Halt and identify yourself!" one of the guards asked.

The figure slowly raised its hands to show that it didn't carry a wand and then raised its hands to the hem of the heavy woollen hood of the cloak. Gently pulling the hood down to reveal a woman's face with starling blonde hair she quietly said:-

"My name was Narcissa Malfoy, it is urgent that I speak to Harry Potter!"


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty Eight – Cometh the day, cometh the war**

The sun broke through brightly through the partially closed curtains as Harry woke in the arms of his beloved Hermione. They had stayed up late into the night congratulating Remus and Tonks on the birth of Teddy with the aid of some bottle of champagne that Dobby had found in the Cottage's wine cellars. Tonks was tired and sore but in high spirits as she held her new son close to her. Everyone was happy for the pair and even more so after Poppy had declared the infant free from any werewolf traits; at least as far as she could tell. Teddy however still had kept changing his eye colour to whatever the colour was of the person holding him at the time.

Harry awoke with an odd sense of anticipation tinged with fear. For some reason today was going to be important, that much he could tell. He lay in bed for a little while, watching his wife sleep. He loved looking at her so much and very gently his kissed along her jaw-line. This action caused her eyes to flutter open and she smiled at the man kissing her.

"Morning Harry, sleep well?" she asked with a grin. Despite the potions she was on, they had practised making their own little Teddy well into the night.

"Yes my beloved, I did. We had better get up, we have a busy day ahead of us; I have an odd feeling about today Mione. Something is going to happen." He stated

Hermione laughed at him, "Okay Professor Trelawney!" she teased.

"Why you!" he grinned back at her and began to tickle her mercilessly

Soon however the pair were dressed and making their way to the kitchen where they were met by Emma and Molly. The pair had become very close since the death of Dan and Molly seemed to be glad of the female company having been in a family of nearly all males for such a long time. Luna was also sat at the table, and empty glass in her hand and a expectant look on her face as she saw the pair enter

"Morning you two, lovely day for a change." Molly called out as she poured them both a coffee.

"Morning Molly, morning Mum; how are you doing?" Hermione asked as she magically filled the little Vampires glass with some of her blood. Luna grinned an eagerly slurped some of her breakfast, smacking her lips as she did.

"Well love, the baby seemed excited to 'see' Teddy arrive last night and has been doing gymnastics ever since, feel." She said as she took her daughters hand and gently placed it on her swelling belly, whilst looking slightly green as she watched Luna and her Breakfast. Hermione's eyes grew wide and tears suddenly appeared in her eyes as she felt her unborn brother kick his mother's belly.

"Wow, that's just amazing. Does it hurt mum?" she asked.

"No, in fact it feels quite nice, like a reminder that despite everything there is still hope and life. I know your father would have been happy to feel it; he was when you were in there. He used to lie with his head on my belly and talk to you for hours. It was so cute and it made me happy; he would talk about anything from the football scores to his hopes for your future. He was a good man and I will never find another like him, but I am able to remember the good times and they mean more to me than the bad. I know he is still with us somehow and looking after us." She said with a sad smile.

"I love you mum!" Hermione said as she hugged her mother.

"And I love you too, both of you!" Emma replied a she brought Harry into a hug with her.

"Now what are your plans for the day?" she asked.

"Well, we are off back to the school to see if we can find the sword, we are just waiting on Bill and Fleur to get ready." Harry said as he helped himself to a slice of toast. As he was speaking the red-haired curse breaker and the beautiful Veela arrived dressed for action. They were both wearing dragon skin tunics and dark coloured trousers and boots. They both had their hair tied back into neat ponytails.

"You two ready?"Bill asked.

"Don't you want breakfast?" Harry replied.

"Had it, I hope you don't mind but we had Dobby bring it up to us earlier. It seems that the youngest Weasley wanted food early." Bill told them with a nod to Fleur's still flat belly.

"Well in that case let's go." Hermione said as she finished of the coffee and the slice of toast she was eating.

"Ow are we to get there?" Fleur asked.

"That's easy Fleur, we will take you."

"Ow, you cannot apparate to 'Ogwarts, Everyone knows that." She said with a confused look.

"Who said anything about apperation?" Harry replied with a cheeky grin as he took the blonde Veelas small hand in his and faded away.

"Whoa! What the hell? Where did they go?" Bill asked in concern as he looked around the room. Hermione giggled at the worried curse-breaker.

"Don't worry Bill, come on I'll take you." She told him as she took his hand and Luna's with her free hand. With a nod to her mother and Molly the three faded away.

Emma looked at the spot in amazement where the two teens had vanished from.

"Is that normal Molly?" she asked her friend.

"Not even close Em, not even close." The red-haired matriarch replied with an astonished grin.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Bill glanced around in amazement as the walls of Hogwarts silently appeared in front of his eyes. He stumbled slightly as Hermione let go of his hand as he looked around. He immediately saw Harry grinning at him and Fleur looking just as shocked as he felt.

"Wow! That was amazing. I didn't feel a thing. Even Dumbledore couldn't do that!" he muttered as he walked over to Fleur to check of she was okay. Happy that she was unharmed he turned around to face the young man.

"Ok Potter, explain how you can do something no other wizard can do and apparate us to Hogwarts?" he demanded.

"Bill, we cannot tell you everything but suffice to say we are both a little more powerful than most and how we got here was nothing to do with apperation. We do not know what it is called but it was developed by Merlin and we are the only people we know of that can do it."

"M-M-Merlin, what? How err?" Bill said stupidly, causing Fleur to giggle slightly.

Harry sighed; Bill seemed to have missed most of their explanations. "Well you know that Merlin was our grandsire?"

Bill nodded remembering the conversation a few days ago.

"Well, we got more than just his staff and good looks, we also got a lot of extra power and knowledge, part of that is how we travel." Harry explained.

"Oh, ok, anything else I should know?"

"Nah don't think so." Harry said as he strode of towards the main doors, looking over his shoulder he added, "Well apart from the fact that Mione and I are immortal!" he grinned.

Hermione laughed as she observed the now dumbstruck pair. Gently she reached over and shut Bill's open jaw with a slight 'clack' and took both his and Fleur's unresisting hands.

"Come on, I'll explain as we walk." She said as she pulled the two with her and followed her husband with Luna giggling as she followed.

"Wha...Immortal?...Merlin...Shit!" Bill stuttered incoherently as Fleur gaped at the receding figure of Harry.

Bill had barely recovered the power of speech by the time the quartet had made their way to the headmistress office.

"Ow are we going to get up? We don't know the password." Fleur asked. Harry grinned and winked at the stature guarding the entrance. Amazingly the statue winked back and glided out of the way.

"She's waiting for you Lord Hogwarts."

"Cheers Cecil!" Harry replied.

"Wha?" Bill uttered once more. "Lord Hogwarts?"

"Well it's quicker than saying Lord Harry James Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter. With the best will in the world it's a bit of a mouthful." Hermione giggled.

"Come on you four!" Harry yelled from half way up the stairs. "We haven't got all day!"

Silently the remaining four joined Harry on the moving staircase and soon were all sat in front of the headmistress desk.

"Well Mr Weasley, I guess we will need someone else to cover your lessons today as you seem to be performing extra-curricular activities for us." Minerva said with a mock scowl.

"Sorry Minerva, but I seem to have been drafted by Lord Hogwarts here!" Bill replied glaring at the innocent looking Harry. "He seems to be a little loose with some of the facts however."

Harry smiled at the older man; he genuinely liked the scar faced man and enjoyed teasing him.

"Sorry Bill, but some facts are secret, others...well I forget sometimes who I've told and who I haven't. We really need your help however with this." He told the man.

"Well okay then, but when this is over we are having a chat. Who else are we waiting for?"

"Your sister and Neville as well as...Ahh her she is." He said as Cassie faded into the room.

"Bill and Fleur, may I present Cassiopeia or Cassie as she likes to be known. Cassie is the magical representation of Hogwarts and sort of my daughter.. well she likes to call me father anyway." Harry said as Cassie smiled and nodded to the new pair.

"Pleased to meet you again." She began only to be interrupted by Bill.

"Again?" she asked.

"Well I was aware when you were at school here and very much so when Miss Delacour...sorry Mrs Weasley was visiting. Fleur, I must apologise for some of the students here and the way in which they treated you. It was unkind and unjust and you did not deserve any of the names they called you."

"Thank you Miss Cassie, dat is very kind of you." Fleur replied.

"Lord Potter, I have to inform you that Snape arrived last night. Kingsley brought him near midnight as most students would have been asleep. He is in the dungeons as requested." Minerva told the young man.

"Thank you Headmistress. Cassie does 'Lotte know?" he asked the school.

"Yes father, I told her this morning. She is eager to see the slime-ball, as am I." Cassie told him with an odd gleam in her eye.

"Bill, do you mind waiting a little while, this won't take long." He asked the elder man. Bill nodded and sat in one of the chairs.

Harry left with Hermione and Luna with Cassie tagging along. They walked down towards the dungeons where they were met by a nervous looking Charlotte.

"You ready for this 'Lotte?" Harry asked.

"Mmhuh!" Charlotte nodded and with that they all walked down the steep stone stairs to the dungeons.

"He's in the cell at the end Harry." Cassie told him as they walked past the other cells that contained the remains of the punishment squad. Most were sat sullenly on their bunks but one - Pansy, stood as they walked past.

"Potter, you have to help me! I was under the Imperius all the time from Draco and then Millicent. Please you have to help me?" she pleaded as they walked past the cell opening. Harry stopped and looked at the frightened girl. He used his powerful occlumency powers to reveal the truth and found that the girl was speaking honestly. She had been used and abused ever since she had come to Hogwarts. First by her father and then Draco and his gang of thugs, and more recently by Nott and Bulstrode. She had been repeatedly raped and tortured as well as becoming pregnant by Goyle and been forced to have the baby aborted.

Harry paled as the extent of the girls suffering became known to him. If he was right the poor girl didn't even belong in Slytherin but was a Hufflepuff through and though. The Imperius curse that was cast on her just before she left her home for Hogwarts by her Death-Eater father had skewed the sorting hats ability and she ended up where her tormentors wanted and needed her to go.

"Oh you poor thing!" Hermione uttered as she read the thoughts flowing through Harry's mind. With a wave of her hand the bars vanished and she walked over and took the broken girl in her arms and held her as she wept the tears of the dammed.

"Don't worry Pansy, we will help you but first let's get you somewhere safe. Dobby!" Harry called; smiling at the diminutive elf arrived.

"Master Harry, how may Dobby help?" he asked wringing his hands in desire to please.

"Dobby, this is Pansy, she had been under an Imperius curse for a long time and has suffered much because of it. Can you take her to the Cottage and explain what has happened to her to Molly. Do NOT let anyone of the others at the house say anything bad to her because of her past actions as they were not really her actions. Ask Molly to feed her and look after her until this is over. Pansy, go with Dobby and you will be looked after; don't worry he nor anyone at my house will hurt you." He told the frightened girl.

With a nod, the grieving girl took the hand of the small elf in a tentative grip and tried to smile at Harry in thanks. However the expression came out as more of a grimace due to her torment. Harry just nodded at her as Dobby took her away to her salvation.

"Shit, this war stinks!" Hermione said.

"Yes, another reason to bring it to an end."

"Father, I'm sorry...I never knew!" Cassie whispered. "I failed her and I failed you."

"Nonsense Cassie, everyone makes mistakes and you were still coming to terms with your 'humanity'. The Imperius is absolute, and nothing could have allowed you to know the truth." He told her giving her a brief hug as he spoke. "Come on let's find Sniverlus."

They walked down the corridor past the remaining cells until they got to the one at the end. Sat with his head in his hands was the form of the ex-headmaster and the old potions master. The figure seemed lost in thought and did not raise his head as the small group got to his cell.

"Hello Snape!" Harry said. Upon hearing his voice, Snape's head whipped up and stared at the man in front of him in horror and fright.

"Potter! I should have known! How are you alive? I saw you fall; I saw you dead!" he snarled at his nemesis.

"Magic Snape, just magic. I have someone who want to meet you." He told the man in a quiet voice. He stood to one side and allowed Charlotte to walk forward. Snape looked at her in confusion for a second before recognition dawned on his face with a mounting horror. His eyes bulged in his face as he stood and began to back away from the young girl until he hit the back wall of the cell.

"NooooooOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried as this one young girl, one that he knew he had killed stood before him with accusation in her young eyes. Snape slid down the back wall of his cell to his knees, his eyes wide and mouth agape in horror.

"B-B-B-But your dead!" he whispered. It was the last thing he ever said. Slowly, section by section, piece by piece, his brain shut down. Within two minutes he was knelt there, eyes wide and unseeing, mouth open with a small amount of spittle falling from one side. Cassie walked through the bars and stood in front of the man. She waved her hand in front of his eyes and tried to rouse him but it was a futile gesture. Serverus Snape, the scourge of Hogwarts was catatonic, his mind snapped and unable to process the facts presented to him. However long he would live; it would be a mindless zombie.

"Good!" was all Charlotte said as she took one last look at the man and then turned and walked back out of the dungeon.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

They were back in the headmistress office discussing the recent events with Bill and Fleur. Charlotte had gone back to the Hufflepuff common room to be with her friends citing the need for something fun to take her mind of recent events.

As the small group was chatting the conversation turned once more to the task they had to perform. Harry was about to tell them his plan when he was interrupted by the arrival of Ginny and Neville complete with brooms, each carrying two apiece.

"Bill! Good to see you big brother, you remember my promised Neville?" Ginny said handing one of the brooms to her elder brother.

"Yes, good to see you Neville." Bill replied with a slightly fierce expression on his face as he shook the now scared young man's hand. "Why the brooms?"

"Well the place we are going to is in the middle of the Black Lake and we thought that this..." Harry told him as Neville silently handed to other broom to Fleur, blushing as he did so.

"No, no, no. This won't work. Harry how much do you know about Curse Breaking?" he asked.

"Not much Bill, why?" came the reply

"Well its hard work, can take a lot out of you, and can be dangerous to perform and totally and utterly impossible to do whilst flying around on a broom in the middle of a freezing lake!" he told the younger man.

"Ah!"

"Yes Ah. We will need a stable platform for me to work on and it needs to be fairly large. How big is the area we think this island is?"

Cassie replied to this. "About five hundred square feet. After you all left last night, I flew back over and measured it."

"Cassie, that could have been very dangerous you know." Hermione scolded.

"Sorry Mother, but I was fine. Nothing on the site of Hogwarts can hurt me; it would be like me hurting myself."

"Oh, I suppose, hadn't thought of it that way." Hermione told her.

"Anyway, we are going to need a boat?" Harry asked Bill who nodded back. "Ok, Cassie any ideas?"

"Well I don't have one, no one has ever asked to go sailing on the lake, and we just sorta ignore it." The school told him.

"Okay well I'll have to make one when we get to the shore. Headmistress is the pontoon still there that we used during the second task of the Triwizard cup?" he asked.

"Yes, I think so, Albus made it and his conjuring tended to be permanent." She told him.

"Ok, let's go then." He said as he led the small party through the school and out on to the short walk down to the lake. However as he got to the main entrance he was met by a small contingent of Goblins lead by Silverfang.

"My Lord, apologies but I have an urgent message for you. You must come to Gringotts as once."

"Silverfang, it's good to see you my friend. I'm a bit busy now, can this not wait?" he asked, slightly annoyed by the timing of things and this second interruption to his plans.

"Sorry my Lord, my grandfather has asked me to tell you that a lost Black sheep has returned to the fold and she has an urgent message for you."

Harry's eyes widened as her unravelled the riddle in his head. He immediately figured that a member of the Black family had returned to the light, but who? He immediately dismissed Bellatrix; she was far too gone to make that sort of return. Andromeda was already with them so that only left someone he didn't know about or ... Narcissa?

 _#You think this is about Narcissa don't you?#_ Hermione thought to him, obviously picking up his stray thoughts.

 _#Yeah, it could be important, but the timing is lousy._ #

 _#Always is lover-boy, always is, what are we going to do?#_ she thought back.

# _what we always do Mione.#_ He thought to her grinning at he did.

 _#Make it up as we go along?#_ she sighed.

"Yup!" he replied out loud alerting the others to the fact that they had been conversing silently. "Bill, can you and the others give us five minutes whilst we sort this out?" he asked the older man. Bill nodded aware that Ragnok would not contact anyone unless he thought the news important.

"We'll be back shortly, have some more breakfast...that's what I'd do." He told them as he and Hermione silently vanished leaving Silverfang and his escort looking around in confusion.

"Er right then, we'll be off I suppose...bye then." He stuttered and activated the special portkey he had been given. Even Professor McGonagall was smiling at the shocked goblin.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Ragnok was sat at his desk with a cup of Goblin coffee next to him. Goblin coffee was an unusual drink in that the only similarity to the drink made from roasted coffee beans was the name 'coffee'. If anyone other than a goblin was to drink the concoction they would be in for a terrible surprise for it was made from the roasted remains of the lava bean. Lava beans only grew next to the crater of live volcano's and were hotter than the most powerful of muggle chillies. Ragnok rather liked it and was on his second cup of the morning when Harry and Hermione silently appeared in front of him like ghosts. Despite his years as a Goblin warrior and all the training he had received; he squealed like a new born goblin and nearly dropped his cup. This would have been bad as the drink would have dissolved his rather nice desk and possibly a large amount of the floor.

"D-D-Duke Pendragon...sorry Harry you startled me. I was assuming that my grandson would bring you, where is he by the way...oh here he is now!" he finished as a sheepish Silverfang let himself into the office followed by two annoyed looking guards with weapons drawn. They had heard the scream from the office and had been debating what the odd sounding noise had meant when Silverfang had come rushing up looking very embarrassed.

"Thank you guards but you may stand down; I was just surprised by the appearance of Duke Pendragon and his lovely wife here." Ragnok told them with as much dignity as he could muster.

Harry smiled as he saw the cup in the Goblins hand, "Ah Coffee lovely!" as he picked up the cup and slugged it back.

"Harry! NO!" Ragnok tried to warn him, but he was too late. Ragnok was about to send for a healer, sure that Harry would be screaming in pain in a few moments. However Harry just stood there and smacked his lips together and smiled.

"Lovely, a little too much sugar but very nice." He told the gobsmacked Goblin leader. "Now as much as I would like to chat, time is short, so I understand someone needs to speak to me?" he asked.

Ragnok sat a little straighter in his chair amazed that Harry had managed to drink the coffee and seemed to enjoy the beverage; not only that but he and Hermione had been able to breach his office without any sound whatsoever.

"Well yes Harry, Narcissa Malfoy came to see us last night. She insisted that she was now to be just called Cissy Noname as she rejected her Malfoy husband and believes she has no right to her maiden name. She has insisted that we contact you so she can speak to you."

"Okay, I'd guessed as much, where is she?" Harry replied.

"I shall have her brought here if you have no objection." Seeing none, he sent Silverfang to bring the witch to the room. When she arrived it was a shocked Harry and Hermione that greeted her. Gone was the arrogance and disdain in her gaze; what was left seemed a broken soul.

"My Lord Black." She said as she sank to her knees in front of Harry her head bowed. Harry raised his eyebrows at the title and looked at Ragnok.

"Technically she is correct; as Sirius was the last Lord Black and he left you everything in his will, you do inherit the title. We did not wish to burden you with another as you seemed so distressed by the others." Harry nodded and gulped. Soon his names would be so long that by the time anyone got to the end they would have forgotten what they wanted to say.

"Please sit Narcissa, I really don't like people kneeling in front of me." Harry told the woman, taking her hands and pulling her to her feet and allowing her to sit in a vacant chair. Narcissa sat but kept her head bowed.

"Please my lord, call me Cissy." She muttered.

"As you wish Cissy, please look at me and tell me what you want to tell me." Harry answered.

Cissy slowly looked up at Harry and both Harry and Hermione were shocked to see tears rolling down her face.

"I'm so sorry my Lord; I have wronged you in so many ways. I have no excuse except that when Lucius died, it felt like I had awoken from a nightmare. My mind was clear for the first time in years and I could see all that I had done. I don't know what curse was used but all though my marriage to that monster it felt like a dream, one that I could not wake up from. I knew what I was doing was wrong but I could not stop myself. Now that he is dead I am free. My other regret is that I could not save my son; I know he is as good as dead now, but in all honesty he was lost years ago. Lucius and that bastard Voldemort corrupted and killed him." She wept. All in the room could feel her pain and sorrow, and Hermione had tears welling in her eyes.

Cissy looked up suddenly, "My lord you must prepare; he is coming and soon, tonight maybe." She told him.

"How do you know this Cissy?" Harry asked.

"My Lord, despite my curse, there were times when I felt my mind more my own. During these moments I could act. Don't forget that the Manor was my home for many years and I have many faithful servants to help me. One of these was my old house elf Daisy. She was very small and was very good at concealing herself. She has remained at the manor and report back to me what is happening. The Dark Lord is worried about something you are doing and is planning on attacking Hogwarts. His forces are down in numbers but he still has many at his disposal. You must stop him or the world is lost."

Harry leaned back in his chair as he absorbed the news. This was both worrying and pleasing at the same time. The fact that Tom was worried implied that Harry was on the right track with locating the last Horcrux, but the threat to the school needed tackling. But first a lost soul needed some help.

"Narcissa Noname, I give you back that which was taken from you. I give you back your name. You are now Cissy Black, daughter of the house of Black. So mote it be!" he said as the magic swirled around the pair of them. Cissy's mouth dropped open; this was more than she could ever have hoped for. She had her name back and she now had the chance of dignity.

"My Lord, I cannot thank you enough, I-I-I don't deserve this..."

"Nonsense, Cissy and please call me Harry. Now if I could prevail upon Silverfang to take you to Potter Cottage. I believe there is a sister of yours along with a new addition to the family that would love to meet you." He told her. She gawped at him before checking with Hermione who nodded back at her. She tentatively hugged him and quickly kissed his cheek.

"Thank you Harry for giving me my life back. I will not let you or the family down again."

With a nod at Silverfang, the young Goblin took hold of the now happy witch and they both popped out of the room.

"Ragnok, thank you for the chance to speak to her. I need to go back to the school to alert them and to get our forces in place."

"Harry, before you go, I have mustered a legion of goblin Warriors to help in your struggle. Tell the Headmistress to expect them within the hour. If they could have somewhere to rest before the fight that would be appreciated.

"Thank you Lord Ragnok this is a grand gesture. For some reason I think by this time tomorrow this will all be over – one way or another." With that both he and Hermione faded out of the room.

"I think it will my young King, I think it will." He muttered to himself before summoning his Master-at-Arms.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

As soon as Harry and Hermione arrived back at the school, Harry summoned Cassie to him.

"Cassie, he's coming! Tonight possibly, maybe sooner. Take the wards to maximum and activate the castles defences. I need to talk to Minerva." He told her as the three ran down the corridor, "Where is she?" he asked.

"Office My Lord! Defences are now at full. All Gargoyle soldiers are activated and awaiting your command." Cassie said to him. She had morphed into the older image of herself, aware that the time for childish pursuits was long gone. This was serious, this was war.

Harry waved at Cecil, who opened quickly as he senses the urgency. Harry and Hermione flew up the stairs and burst into the office.

"Minerva, He's coming tonight. I have placed the castle on high alert and activated all defences. You need to get the younger years to safety and summon the higher years to fight. Call all in all of our people and be aware that Ragnok is sending a legion of Goblin Warriors. We need Hagrid to contact the Centaurs and ask them to help as well. Luna I need you to help get the higher years ready to fight, any that can't ask them to help look after the younger students, any that are untrustworthy banish 'em to the dungeons. " He ordered.

Professor McGonagall was aware that this was not Harry Potter the student talking to her but Lord Potter, owner of the school.

"Yes My Lord, anything else?" she asked.

"Yes, contact the people in Hogsmeade, those that can help and are willing are welcome. Those that cannot or won't should flee." He told her. "Bill we need to get to the lake and find that sword, it has almost been confirmed that we are on the right track and we do not have a lot of time."

With stern expressions everyone went to complete the tasks they had and soon Harry, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, Ginny and Neville were on their way to the lake. They were quickly joined by Cassie, now back in her child persona.

Soon they got to the small wooden pontoon that they had used to dive into for the second task a few years ago. Harry looked around for a second, his memories strong of that day and he caught Fleur's eye.

"I never thought I'd be back 'ere 'Arry. It brings back bad memories to me. My sister still talks about you, you know. She would love to meet you once more; you are something of an 'ero to 'er."

"That would be nice, maybe we can all get together, you know ask Viktor over and we can raise a glass to Cedric." He said. Fleur nodded and looked out over the lake with a wistful look on her face.

"What sort of boat will we need?" Harry asked Bill.

"Something simple like a barge will do, basically we just need a floating platform for me to work on."

"Like this?" Harry asked as he looked to the water. Suddenly a large flat bottomed barge appeared with a small wheel house at one end and raised sides that could protect the occupants from waves.

"Wow, perfect. How are we going to power it, I'm guessing no one knows how to sail and I don't have an outboard engine on me?" Bill muttered.

"Yeah I thought of that." Harry said and suddenly there were three ropes attached to the bow of the craft complete with odd looking harnesses on the other ends. "We attach these to myself, Gin and Nev and we can use our brooms to tow you out to the location."

"Perfect, what about Hermione? Is she not to help tow?" he asked looking at the brunette witch.

"Well 'Mione despite been brave and fearless is a tad scared of heights so will keep you and Fleur company of the barge. Cassie will fly with us and tell us when we get to the location." He said. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him but still looked pleased not to be flying once more.

Bill, Fleur and Hermione climbed onboard the barge whilst the others climbed into the harnesses. Once secure they mounted their broom and hovered over the barge with Cassie floating next to them.

"Remember this is not a race, we need to fly slowly and in a strict formation so that the barge has a smooth passage. Any problems just holler and we can stop. Ok?" he told the three on them, Harry was in the centre position with Neville to his right and Ginny to his left. They all nodded and slowly they flew away taking the slack as they did so. Once they were in position, Bill untied the rope that was holding the barge to the pontoon and moved to the wheel house to help steer the barge. The three on brooms slowly took the strain and the barge began to slowly move off, gaining momentum as it did. A few minutes later they were moving at about five miles an hour and Bill signalled that this was just the right speed. Too much more and they ran the risk of the barge becoming unstable. It was cold twenty minute later when Cassie signalled for them to stop. Bill moved away from the wheel house and dropped the large iron anchor that was at the stern on the barge. The three fliers descended to the barge and removed the harnesses.

"Ok, now what?" Neville asked. The barge was moving slightly in the swell of the lake and Neville was quickly feeling a little sick. Noticing this, Harry once more made a slight gesture and the motion stopped; the barge stock still and the only sound was the water slapping against the high sides of the vessel.

"Thanks mate!" Neville told him.

"No problem Nev, beginning to feel a bit queasy myself there. Bill anything?" he asked the red-head.

"Give me a second will you, Merlin you are impatient!" Bill chided but with a grin.

He stood at the side of the boat and waved his wand in a very precise pattern whilst chanting in an unknown language. He began to sweat and sway as he stood, but never dropped a word nor did he mess up a gesture with his wand. After about three minutes he let out an explosive amount of air and dropped to his knees. Fleur rushed to his side and held his head as the elder man panted slightly before he turned and pulled himself back to his feet.

"Merlin, that's tough but yes it there, the whole island is hidden by a very obscure charm that I have read about but never seen. It takes a really powerful magic user to cast it and I'm not sure if I'm powerful enough to break it."

They all looked at him surprised. "What sort of charm is it Bill?" Harry asked.

Bill sighed and tried to collect his thoughts. "Well it's complicated and a bit obscure, but you know how you can hide things with concealment charms or by invisibility cloaks and the like? Well this is a bit different. There are other ways to hide something, one is in time. You can shift an object back in time slightly so when you are in normal 'time' you cannot get to it, but that would still make the object visible. This is quite different; it seems that the island has been shifted in space and time; into another dimension, one that is parallel to ours but distinct. It's very hard to do and would make the object almost impossible to detect."

"Shit!" Hermione muttered. "I know about this charm from my Ravenclaw knowledge. Where the hell did Tom read about that one?"

"You know of the charm?" Bill asked in a surprised voice.

"Yeah, I have all the knowledge of Ravenclaw in here." She said as she tapped the side of her head. "However, this information on how to break the charm was not there."

"Well I know how to break it, but I'm not powerful enough to do so." Bill told her.

"Well then I suggest a merging of talents. I'll provide the power and you will provide the knowledge." Hermione said with a grin.

Bill grinned and the pair of them began a conversation that the rest had no chance of following.

"Harry are you sure that you want Hermione to do this? Is she powerful enough?" Fleur asked.

Harry laughed and smiled at the young French Veela. "Don't worry about 'Mione. We are equally as powerful as each other, but she is still the brains of the outfit. She can do anything if she puts her mind to it." He told her with a smile that slightly faltered when Bill proceeded to remove his shirt and stood at the side of the barge bare-chested.

"Don't worry Harry, I don't have designs on your wife lovely as she is, I will need her to place her hands on my back as I perform the ritual in order to provide me with the power I need. Skin to skin contact works best and I will need both my hands free in order to do this. One other thing, I have detected a tamper charm in the concealment field; this will alert Tom as soon as we do this. You had better let the school know to be ready for any counter-strike. Oh and any chance of a warming charm, its sodding freezing stood here half naked?" he finished with a plaintive look. Harry smiled and waved his hand over the half naked curse breaker who smiled in thanks.

"Cassie, can you tell Minerva what Bill has just said and warn them that Tom may make an early appearance once we do this." He asked the young girl.

"Done!" she said.

"How, you are still here?" Neville asked in confusion.

"Well, I am also with the headmistress, don't forget I'm not really real. I am the school and I can appear anywhere, any number of times."

Neville's mouth formed an 'O' of understanding as he grinned at the young girl. "Cool!" he said, causing Cassie to giggle at him.

"Right, are we ready?" Bill asked, impatient to get this done.

Everyone nodded and he took up his position at the side of the boat. Hermione gently placed her hands on the shoulder blades of the older man, causing him to flinch.

"Sorry, cold hands!" Hermione grinned in a tight smile.

Bill just nodded and turned to face the lake once more. He shut his eyes and concentrated. Slowly he raised his wand and began to speak in a low and controlled voice. The words were like smoke in the air, no one could manage to understand them or to even remember the words once spoken. His wand waved in intricate patterns leaving yellow and golden swirls in the air as it moved. Hermione's hands began to glow as the power coursed out of her and she began to sweat despite the cold wind. After a few minutes Bill began to speed up his speech and movements, the sweat dripping of his brow as he now yelled the words of the spell. A faint humming could be heard in the air and without warning; there it was! A small wooded island appeared directly to the side of the boat. An inhuman scream could be heard as the island appeared that faded into the wind. Stood on the shoreline of the island was a figure. The figure raised its head and slowly pulled back her hood revealing a startlingly beautiful face with dark, almost black hair.

"Welcome my King, my son. Welcome to your destiny." Nimue said in a musical voice.

I.Y.I. .

Deep in the dank pits of Malfoy manor Voldemort screamed and rolled around in pain as he felt his last hiding place become exposed. The backlash from the broken spell was agony.

"Bella! Prepare the troops, we go to Hogwarts now!" he groaned in pain.

"But my Lord, we are not fully prepared." She tried to tell her lord and master.

"CRUCIO!" he yelled at her as the sickly yellow spell hit his most trusted lieutenant. He released her after a few seconds.

"I don't FUCKING care, we march now! We are going to destroy Potter, all he holds dear and that SODDING school once and for all!" he replied.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

"Harry, he knows! He's coming!" Cassie said as she gazed at the impossible woman in front of them. "It begins!" she whispered.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty Nine – War!**

Harry looked over at the island that had appeared in front of him with a nervous anticipation. This was it; the final piece of the puzzle was almost in his grasp, but he was worried about the cost. Voldemort was coming and people would get hurt or worse. As he gazed at the island his attention moved to the beautiful and ethereal woman stood watching him with a patient gaze as she stood on the shoreline. 'What did she called me?' he mused, 'king and son?' Realising that he had been silent a little too long he cleared his throat.

"Madam, do I know you?" he asked politely.

The woman chuckled to herself. "So very polite, just like his ultimate father." She said almost to herself before looking directly at him.

"No Harry Potter, but I know you as well as your lovely wife stood next to you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am known as Nimue, or as you may know me – The Lady of the Lake. I am also you ultimate grandmother, Merlin was my husband and father of my children. And although the lines diverged quickly they were the children that ultimately produced you two." As she spoke Harry could feel an emotion growing inside of him. All his life he had no family that loved him, that was until he met Hermione and then Sirius. But this was the love of a mother figure, a love that he had only ever felt briefly and fleetingly, whether though Molly or occasionally others.

"Grandmother?" he whispered.

Nimue smiled. "Well Grandmother times many hundreds but the name will suffice.

"But how are you still..." he asked but unsure on how to ask such a question of a lady his voice failed.

"Alive?" Harry nodded. "Well you see I am not human, I am a Fae, as are you and Hermione...well partly. You don't think anyone could be given the gift that my husband bestowed upon you do you? Only one with Fae blood running through their veins could ever hope to be given the gift of immortality."

Neville gasped at this news and his jaw hung open in astonishment.

"So we are not human?" he asked sadly, thinking back to his conversation with Fawkes.

"Off course you are, but you are human with a little bit extra. Fawkes told me about your worries about this. Anyway what wrong with been partly Fae?" she asked a little put out.

"Nothing Grandmother, nothing at all. I was just a little concerned for our children." He replied in a worried voice.

"Well don't be young one, now I guess you have question. I would hurry now, he's getting closer." She told him

Before that however, Harry felt he had to do one more thing. He used some of his magic and levitated himself and Hermione off the barge and gently moved them to the shore. With a final magical step they both gently bumped into the ground and stood on the island. They both walked slowly to the woman and as one wrapped their arms around her.

"Grandmother!" they both said.

Nimue looked shocked for a second before she smiled and held the pair close.

"My Dears, what brought this on?" she asked blinking back a few tears.

"I've never had a grandmother and Hermione didn't really ever get to know hers either." Harry replied, his voice muffled by been held in Nimue arms.

With a final squeeze Harry let go and re-arranged his expression to that of his earlier demeanour. One of determination and resolve.

"May we speak later?" he asked her.

"I certainly hope so my young one, but now to business. You four are permitted to come onto my island and Lady Hogwarts is always welcome." She told the remaining group on the barge. "I must thank you for revealing my island and myself to the world." She told Bill as he jumped of the barge and waded to the small beech putting on his top before he did so. Before he waded he turned around and lifted Fleur, bridal style of the barge and carried her to the shore. Neville upon seeing this act of chivalry repeated it for Ginny.

Nimue looked at the group stood with her before nodded and smiling.

"Good! Come!" she instructed and walked slowly into the trees. The seven remaining people all looked at each other for a second before following the figure into the trees.

"So Immortal?" Neville said to Harry and Hermione. Harry grinned and looked a little sheepish.

"Sorry mate, meant to tell you but stuff got in the way." Harry told the amazed teen.

"Wow, that must be amazing" he said.

"You'd think so but I can tell you dying hurts like hell." He told the young man

"What? Dying?"

"Yeah, Mione and I have been 'killed' quite a few times so far and even though we always come back, it still hurts both of us. We share a live essence and what one feels so does the other. It's an amazing thing most of the time, but when one of us is 'killed'... well you can imagine."

Neville shuddered at the thought, he couldn't imagine the pain he would feel if he had to watch and 'feel' his beloved die like that; and multiple times as well if Harry was to be believed; and Neville did believe Harry.

Within a minute or so they became aware that the dense trees were thinning and soon they were all stood on the edge of a clearing, unable to go any further. The reason for their immobility was in the centre of the clearing. Illuminated by a clichéd shaft of sunlight was a large granite rock and imbedded in the rock was the sword. Excalibur glowed in the light, its silver blade untarnished by the eons and it's golden hilt was topped with a large ruby in the pommel. Faint etchings could be seen running down the blade but only the last third of the blade was visible, the remainder was embedded in the rock.

"Behold Excalibur!" Nimue announced.

As if drawn, Harry walked forward until he got to about ten feet from the stone when the sword seemed to glow in a green light and an evil snarl could be heard.

"Well, yes! There is the problem. It seems whilst I was half sleeping the eons away, waiting for you, Tom Riddle got to it first. He was never able to draw the sword, but he still was able to cast his evil magic on it. It took the soul of an innocent virgin to cast it, but cast it he did. Now I cannot get close to the blade. Excalibur fights the evil, but on its own it is not strong enough to cast it off."

"There will be another problem Harry." Hermione said, her brain concentrating furiously. "In order to help the sword, you will have to draw it, but like Gaunts ring or the Diadem, we know the way to activate a Horcrux is to use it in the way it is intended. Once you try to draw the sword the Horcrux will activate and with Tom so close that would be...bad!"

"Crap! What do we do?" Harry asked.

"We have no choice, we need to destroy Excalibur!" Hermione told the stunned group.

"One question Mione, how do you destroy the supposedly indestructible?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked at him with a desperate look.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

In the town of Hogsmeade no one was around. Word had got out that Voldemort was coming and a lot had fled. Shops were boarded and homes emptied of valuables and the inhabitants had run. Those that chose to remain and fight had moved to the school in order to help there.

With multiple 'pops' Death Eaters, Giants, Trolls, Werewolves and Inferi all appeared with a flash. Finally Lord Voldemort also appeared with Bellatrix on one side and Peter Pettigrew on the other in the centre of the throng. It was here, it was now and death was watching on.

"My lord, the town is deserted, no one is here."

"Destroy it, destroy it all and then we march to Hogwarts; we march to victory!" Voldemort yelled, casting the first curse of the day on Honeydukes, setting the sweet store alight.

Voldemort watched in glee as his troops systemically destroyed the magical village. Within an hour nothing was left and Voldemort began his march to the school. As he marched at the head of his army an intense pain hit him like a brick. He screeched in agony and fell to the floor, fitting as he did. The army faltered and stopped; unsure of what to do. Bella had knelt down by her Lord and Master and was trying to revive him. The fitting had stopped as had the foaming at the mouth but Voldemort was still out cold. Her diagnostic spells were coming up confused. Voldemort seemed to be in some sort of physic shock, and his magical reserves were very low.

Deep in Voldemort's mind he was screaming. The impossible had happened; he was vulnerable. His last Horcrux had been discovered and was under threat.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

"Harry, he's on his way, he has destroyed Hogsmeade and was marching on the school. Your approach to the sword stopped him for a while, but he knows you are here. We must hurry." Cassie said.

"You four and Cassie go back to the school and help them. They need you more now. " Harry told them.

"Are you sure Harry?" Cassie asked tears in her eyes.

"Sure, and be careful. I don't want to lose anymore friends."

"Good luck Harry" both Ginny and Neville said; Ginny giving both him and Hermione a kiss and Neville just kissing Hermione.

"I love you like a brother Harry but even you don't get a kiss from me!" he joked.

Bill wordlessly grasped Harry's arm in his and nodded before gently kissing Hermione on the cheek. Fleur with tears in her eyes kissed both of them on each cheek before they all took hold of Cassie who vanished with them.

"Now what?" Hermione asked.

"We need to destroy the sword but how?" Harry mused. He glared at the sword and raised his hand.

"REDUCTO! BOMBARDA!" he yelled as both curses shot from the palm of his hand and flew towards the sword. They both hit the blade and the snarling could be heard even louder this times. The two spells Harry had cast flew around the sword before suddenly flying of back towards the caster. Both hit Harry dead in the chest and he flew backwards, hitting a tree with a sickening thud. His chest was a bloody mess and a hole the size of a fist was present. Hermione gasped in pain as Harry died, his body sliding down the tree and hitting the floor with a thud. Nimue looked at harry with a shocked expression on her face. Despite knowing he was immortal, watching one of your family die in such a horrible way was unpleasant to say the least. She was also surprised when Hermione gasped in pain at her husband's 'death'. Looking closer she was surprised to see that the pair were Life-Essence bonded, an ever deeper bond than a soul bond. This surprised her, even Merlin and her did not have such a strong bond; these two would be inseparable in life and even finally in death. They would light up the galaxy as they travelled the path of life.

Evan as she gazed at her grandson she was amazed to see the immortality manifesting itself as the wound in his chest slowly repaired and sealed over. With a gasp Harry sat up and looked around; momentarily confused before understanding once more.

"Well not that way then!" he muttered as he hauled himself to his feet. Walking over to the women, he kissed Hermione gently. "Sorry love!" he whispered.

"Idiot!" she said as she slapped his shoulder.

Harry grimaced and summoned Merlin's staff to his hand. Holding the staff with the crystal pointing at the sword he threw raw magic at the sword, this time remembering to place a shield around himself first. A stream of glittering light shot out the end and hit the sword and stone, enveloping it in a burning light. The sword snarled and dark light enveloped it as it fought the light. After five minutes Harry stopped leaving the sword and stone burning bright red with heat. He sighed as he banished the staff.

"Now what?" he asked.

Neither woman could give him an answer as he sat down in front of the stone, it pinging and creaking as it cooled.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Voldemort had regained consciousness and was fuming. He was ranting about something been found and in danger. He had marched right up to the ward line and was throwing curse after curse at the invisible barrier. Numerous dead Death Eaters and two dead trolls were lying just inside the wards; every so often Voldemort would order another one across so he could check the progress of his assault.

The wards flashed once more as another part of them fell and once more another Death Eater died as he tried to cross the ward line. He got further than the others but still the wards remained...but for how long?

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Inside the school it was organised chaos. Younger pupils were deep within the castle, protected by barriers and secret doors as well as some older students; but the rest of the older ones were all running around trying to organise the defence of the castle. It was into this that Cassie and the four others arrived and were soon seen by the headmistress.

"Cassie, thank Merlin you are here. The other you was not strong enough to help." She said as a tired looking older version of Cassie walked up to her younger counterpart and the two merged with a golden light.

"How are things Headmistress?" Cassie asked.

Well the Gargoyles are at the perimeter along with some of the Order members. Poppy has the infirmary ready along with a dozen or so Healers from St Mungos she knows to be trustworthy. We have over a hundred people from Hogsmeade ready to fight including Dumbledore's brother. All the seventh and sixth years that can fight are nearly ready and the firth years are to protect the younger years. How are the ward holding up?" she asked looking at the sweating Cassie.

"Not good, Minerva, not good. They won't last much longer and it's hurting me so much to keep them up."

"I know Cassie, but we need them a little longer it you can." Minerva told her whilst Cassie nodded grimly.

"Bill, your family are outside with the rest of the order. They asked if you would join them when you got here. Fleur are you sure you wish to fight, what with your pregnancy?" she asked the beautiful French woman.

"Oui! I will fight with my 'usband and will die with 'im if necessary. This ends today!" she stated and the pair along with Ginny and Neville left to join the Weasley clan.

Suddenly Cassie screamed in absolute pain. "There down! The wards are down!" she whimpered before she fainted.

Minerva McGonagall stared at the woman in front of her for a second whilst she processed the information.

"Shit!" she swore. Pressing her wand to her throat she amplified her voice.

"ALL DEFENDERS OF HOGWARTS AND FIGHTERS FOR FREEDOM. THE WARDS ARE DOWN! I REPEAT THE WARDS ARE DOWN. THEY ARE COMING!"

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Voldemort cried in triumph as the last of the castle wards fell prompting a massive cheer from his supporters.

"Rat take the troops to the castle, kill anything that gets in your way." He told the wizard

"My Lord?" Peter asked.

"DO IT RAT. Potter is elsewhere and that is where I need to be." He said annoyed before turning to Bellatrix.

"Bella you're with me, I need you to kill Potter's Mudblood bitch whilst I deal with him."

"Yes My Lord." Bella replied gulping slightly in a mixture of fear and arousal.

Voldemort shadow apparated the pair of them away leaving a slight trail of black smoke.

"ATTACK!" Peter yelled as the masses surged forward, Dementors flying forward.

The group of witches, wizards and Gargoyles stood in defence braced themselves for the oncoming storm. All that could raised their wands and thought the happiest thoughts they could muster. Molly thought about her family, Ginny thought about Neville and his love for her. Susan thought about the love of her life stood next to her as she squeezed her hand. Kingsley thought about his wife and son and Remus thought about little Teddy at the cottage with his grandmother. Tonks thought the same as she stood side by side with her husband. Luna thought about her friend Harry and the love she felt for him and Hermione. All the positive thoughts melded and as one the group shouted.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The silver animals bursts forward but augmented by the magic of Hogwarts they all blurred into one, one large and beautiful phoenix that flew towards the oncoming dark creatures. With a cry it flew into the hoard of Dementors and they screamed...they screamed the sounds of death as they were ripped from this existence. Within minutes all that was left was a few dark cloaks that slowly drifted down in the wind.

The Death Eaters stopped there charge in surprise at the death of the Dementors. With a cry of rage Peter screamed at them to fight and commanded the Inferi to attack.

The un-dead creatures swarmed forward towards the tired defenders.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry suddenly stood up with an expectant look on his face.

"I have an idea." He told the women. With a grin he summoned to his hand the Sword of Gryffindor.

"What happens what an indestructible object meets an immovable force? Well I guess we shall find out!" he said raising his hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you Potter!" snarled a voice from the trees. Harry whirled around at the sound and watched in horror as Tom Riddle; Lord Voldemort strode out from the forest with Bellatrix at his heels.

"Tom, welcome! I was beginning to think you would miss the party. And Bella as well; so good of you to bring your rabid dog with you." Harry sneered, trying for play for time; he could see Hermione moving slowly out of the corner of his eye. Unfortunately Voldemort had also seen her move. Without any warning he threw a cutting curse at Hermione who ducked and then he threw a rapid chain of curses at Harry.

"DIFFENDO! INCENDIO! REDUCTO!" he yelled as the spells shot towards Harry. Harry just stood there and with the sword he swatted all three curses away, one of them nearly hitting Bella as it rebounded.

"Good! Good Potter, I see you have been learning. I was hoping for a decent battle and it seems that you may be able to provide it." Voldemort whispered to him.

As they talked it was obvious that Voldemort had placed himself between Harry and the sword in an attempt to keep his Horcrux safe.

Harry held the sword in one hand and summoned Merlin's staff in the other.

"Tom, are you sure you want to do this, last time we met I gave you a bloody nose, this time I intend to remove it, well if you can call that a nose." He told the man as he tried to circle around him.

Voldemort was nervous of the wizard in front of him but refused to show it. He knew he had to strike hard and fast. With no warning he began to throw silent curses at Harry who grinned and waved the staff. A glowing ball of golden light sprung up around him and the curses impacted harmlessly upon its surface. Voldemort stood with his mouth open as he glared at the boy.

"That the best you got Tom?" Harry taunted as he used the staff to send a powerful stream of magic at the evil man. The stream struck Voldemort in the chest and flung him backwards towards the trees. With a sickening thud he impacted the trees, breaking a few on them before he landed with a thud. Harry sent a second blast of pure magic towards the evil wizard but the stream of powerful magic hit the trees, blasting them apart. Of Voldemort there was no sign. Harry looked around in puzzlement before he felt a powerful blast to his back knocking him to the ground with the force of the impact. He felt blood and worse run down his back before he managed to flip out of the way, his immortality healing his damaged back.

"Just like a coward, hitting a man in his back." Harry sneered as he turned to face Voldemort, who sent a killing curse at Harry. Harry ducked out of the way and once more used his staff to send wave after wave towards Tom. He managed to duck the first wave, but the second caught his side. Voldemort flew across the clearing but at the apex of the flight Voldemort turned around and shimmered. In his place was a massive black dragon, compete with black wings and interestingly a forked tongue. The dragon took a breath and breathed a spire of white hot flame at the younger man. Harry managed to shield most of it but still his cloths and hair caught fire burning his skin in the process. Harry screamed in pain as the skin bubbled on his arms and legs. Voldemort shot another burst of the white hot flame at Harry who caught the entire blast in his chest. His entire body burst into flames, the sword and staff dropping to the floor as he burnt. Voldemort roared in triumph but this was short lived as the burning man raised his hand and bright blue light shot from it and hit the dragon in the side. The dragon was flung far from the island and landed with an almightily splash in the lake half a mile away. Harry dropped to the floor quite dead for the moment.

Bella meanwhile had pulled her wand and was grinning at Hermione. "So Mudblood, you got him to marry you did you? How did you manage that? Other than putting yourself out for him you have nothing to offer, so a slut you must be." She crowed.

Hermione had just grinned at the witch, her word having no effect on the immortal. Nimue had melted into the trees, a Fae she may be but combative magic was not one of her talents.

Hermione started firing spells at Bellatrix who laughed and batted them away like annoying insects. This was all part of Hermione's plan as the spells she had used were low power and she knew that the hag in front of her would be easily able to repel them.

Bella was laughing at her and occasionally flinging the odd curse all the while singing in a childish sing-song voice.

Hermione grinned at her and was about to cast a spell at full power when she suddenly felt Harry 'die' and she stumbled in pain. Unaware of the reason for her foe's stumble Bellatrix took advantage of hit and cast a powerful cutting curse at the fallen witch. This struck Hermione on the shoulder, totally severing her right arm and flinging the body several feet in the opposite direction.

"Take that you silly itty bitty girl!" she giggled. Looking around she saw both teens apparently dead but no sign of her lord and master.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The Inferi had discovered to their loss that Gargoyles could not be hurt by them. The gargoyles meanwhile had discovered quickly that the best way to deal with one of the un-dead was to bodily rip them apart, favouring the removal of the head. Even un-dead Inferi struggled to continue without a head. That was not to say that the forces of light had it easy. There were hundreds of the creatures and only a handful of the stone guardians. The rest of the dark creatures had to be disposed of the usual way with fire curses. This was hard work and inevitable some of the creatures made it through the lines of defence. It was when this happened that the main Death Eater force attacked and the battle was now fully engaged. Like all such battles plans went out of the window and chaos ruled; the forces of light found themselves split up and out numbered.

Hagrid and Grawp were trying to kill the giants, aided by Remus, Tonks and Kingsley. They had managed to kill one of the massive creatures by blasting its head apart, but they were been beaten back by the others. Whilst the giants had no magic of their own they were big, strong and surprisingly fast. This made for difficult hunting but on the positive note, they giants weren't all that intelligent. The forces of light had hurt them and like all creatures when hurt they went after the source of that pain. This had allowed the small group of defenders to lead the giants away from the main battle thus effectively neutralising them. Now all they had to do was stay alive long enough to stop the giants. Hagrid turned to his brother to ask him to run after one of the more injured giants when a stray boulder thrown by another of the massive creatures hit both him and Grawp. The boulder killed Hagrid instantly and badly injured Grawp. Grawp turned and tried to rouse Hagrid, puzzled by his inaction but that was when a second stone was thrown and killed once more as Grawp died. The others were shocked and still firing curses tried to retreat. They were near the borders of the Forbidden forest and running out of time, room and strength when salvation came in the form of a full herd of royally pissed off Centaurs, bows firing and spears throwing. Within a few seconds three giants died and the rest turned and ran. The only other injuries sustained by the fighters was a broken arm by Tonks when she fell over her own feet and a badly bruised Kingsley. However all were grief stricken by the death of the gentle groundskeeper and his even more gentle brother.

Minerva was leading a large force of students and Order members against a force of Trolls and Death Eaters. Sadly they had already suffered losses with the death of Seamus Finnegan and Terry Boot, both killed by killing curses, as well as the death of Emmeline Vance and four other younger students. Minerva was devastated by the losses but could not allow herself to grieve at the moment. They were currently in retreat and rapidly running out of room. The advancing Death Eaters were grinning and were feeling sure of an easy victory. That was until a massive roar was heard over the lake and a large Black dragon was seen been hurled across the water and impacting upon its surface. All the Death Eaters could feel their master's pain through their Dark-Marks and this was the distraction that the large Goblin force needed. They emerged from the school, swords drawn and shouting battle cries. They swarmed over the Death Eaters with swords and knifes flashing decimating the startled and distracted Death Eaters, leaving just the large thick looking trolls who were looking around with piggy eyes. Minerva was not proud of herself as she couldn't help think that they just looked like large versions of Crabbe and Goyle as she ordered the attack of the remaining trolls and few surviving Death Eaters.

Meanwhile the Weasleys and Luna were in a group of fighters trying to keep the Inferi and Death Eaters at bay. They were fighting closely with the Gargoyles, and defending them against attacks by the Death Eaters. Whilst at first disheartened by the stone giant's ability to rip the Inferi apart; the Death Eaters had discovered that the Gargoyles were very susceptible to the Bombarda curse. When hit with such a curse the stone defenders basically blew apart, often injuring anyone around them with shards of razor sharp stone. Such an injury had been sustained by Fred Weasley, who was currently been carried by his brother to the infirmary. Fred had lost one of his legs in such a blast and the remaining one was badly crushed. George had managed to cauterise the wound to reduce the blood loss but he knew his brother needed help and he needed it badly. George was levitating the groaning Fred through the castle and he rushed into the hospital wing.

"HELP!" he yelled at the chaos that greeted him. Everywhere he looked healers were rushing around tending to the injured and dying. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" he yelled once more. A healer looked up and went over to the pair. Running his wand over the prone twin, George could see the expression on his face darken as the results were displayed.

"Sir, I'm sorry but he will lose his other leg as well. The damage is just too great. If we were at St Mungos I may be able to save it but with the resources we have here I have to remove it if you want me to save his life."

Fred had awoken during the conversation and weakly waved George over.

"L-L-Let them take it Georgie, when this is all over we can find some Fire Whisky and both get leg-less together..." he giggled before passing out once more.

"Do it!" George told the healer.

"Yes Sir, do you wish to stay with him?" he asked.

"Would love to but I'm needed out there! My family is fighting and I need to help." He said to the healer. "Look after him please." And he left to rejoin the fight.

Luna had left the Weasleys and was using her Vampire skills to vanish from sight and creep up on the unsuspecting Death Eaters. As she wasn't too keen of draining all of them dry and it taking far too much time, she had grown claws on her hands and was creeping up behind them and slicing their throats to allow them to bleed out. So far she had killed over twenty this was and that number was rising. She felt very bad about taking life, but knew that this was the only way and that Harry and Hermione needed her help.

Neville and Ginny were back to back casting spells all the time in an attempt to reduce the number they were facing. They had become split off from the main group and both were getting tired. As they fought Neville heard a growl and turned to see a pack of were-wolves stalking towards them.

"Shit!"

Ginny turned to see what had concerned her lover and paled at the sight.

"Neville, I love you!" she told him and they both braced themselves for the death that was about to rain down upon them.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Bellatrix couldn't believe it, they had done it. Both Potter and his whore lay dead at her feet. Sure she had heard that the pair were immortal and yes she had seen things she didn't understand but no one could come back from this. Potter's body was a burnt husk and the Mudbloods was almost in two pieces. Dammit but they were dead! She moved away and walked to the shoreline to try to see her Master. As she looked out over the lake she missed the next few events. Slowly Harry's body healed itself, the skin returning to its pink colour and the blood flaking away from him. Of more surprise was what was happening to Hermione's body. The severed arm had vanished in a yellow glow and the stump was glowing with the same yellow light. Inside this light a form could be seen taking shape; that of a skeletal arm, the bones clearly visible. Slowly the muscles and sinew could be seen taking shape quickly covered by flesh and blood vessels. This was soon covered in new pink skin before the glow receded. As one the pair gasped and sat up confusion etched on both faces. Harry was stark naked his clothes burnt to ash, and Hermione had her one arm missing from her armour. Harry grimaced in pain and slowly stood. He glanced at Hermione and smiled before shimmering and in his place stood a massive golden dragon, his wings reflecting in the sunlight. With a silent jump he launched himself into the air whilst Hermione slowly walked over to the discarded Sword of Gryffindor and took hold of the hilt.

Bella was looking out over the lake when she saw the water bubble and foam about half a mile away. With a sudden splash the black dragon launched itself into the air, screeching in triumph. Bellatrix laughed and yelled for joy at seeing her Master. Because of her distraction she did not hear Hermione creep up behind her but she did see, with horror in her eyes, the enormous Golden dragon slam into the black one in a cloud of claws and teeth.

"Noooooo! UUUUUGGGGGHHH!" she screamed as the bright and shiny blade of Gryffindor silently appeared in the middle of her chest. She looked down on horror, her wand falling harmless from her grip as her body began to realise that she was mortally wounded. It was then that she heard the voice in her ear.

"Mudblood Eh? Well what do you have to say now?" Hermione whispered in her ear. With a jerk she pulled she sword out from the body of the mad bitch and this action caused Bella to whip around so she was facing her executioner. She saw Hermione raise the sword and look her in the eyes.

"See you in Hell!" Hermione told her and swung the sword hard and fast. Bellatrix Lestrange, the most feared of all the Death Eaters and killer of untold hundreds died as her head flew from her body and landed with a splash in the lake. The body stood for a few seconds before it crumpled to the floor, blood spurting from the open wound.

"No-one cuts my fucking arm of and gets away with it!" Hermione muttered before wiping the blade clean on the body. Looking up she watched the battle high in the sky over the lake. Voldemort had recovered from Harry's initial assault and sent flames at the larger dragon. However unlike before the flames just licked around the body of the large Gold dragon with no apparent effect. Harry flew fast and hard at Voldemort and breathed his own flame; this flame was unlike any other. It was very similar to the touch he had inflicted in Professor Quirrell all those years ago. It was fuelled by the love of his parents and the continuing love of Hermione. The flames hit the black dragon full in its face and Voldemort screeched in pain and agony as the positive feelings drained his body and tugged at the blackness in his broken soul. Harry hit the dragon again with his flame and as he flew past the dragon he raked his claws along the flank of the black beast drawing a deep black blood from the wound. Unfortunately as he flew past Voldemort managed to swipe Harry with one of his wings, causing Harry to howl in pain. The two dragons flew apart, both panting with the effort of the fight. Harry breathed his flame once more but Voldemort was wise to this and ducked out of the way. It was then that it went wrong for Harry. Despite all his power, Voldemort was the more experienced fighter and somehow managed to cast magic whilst in an Animagus form. He threw the spell at Harry causing him to revert back to his human form and at the same time Voldemort whipped his tail around slamming it into Harry's body. Harry lost consciousness immediately and fell to earth like a stone. As the time the two dragons were above the island when the attack occurred, Harry slammed into the floor with a thud.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The forces at the school thought that things were going their way, they had destroyed nearly all the Inferi and the trolls, the giants had fled and a large number of the Death-Eaters were down or dead. This had come at quite a cost; only four of the Gargoyles were still functional and over half of the Goblin force were dead. Of the humans, many were injured and many had died. The school building had been badly damaged in places, one of the towers had collapsed when it was hit by an explosive curse and the main doors to the entrance were damaged. One lay on the floor and the other was hanging by its hinges. Many of the windows were broken and glass littered the floor in most places adding to the hazards. Most of the light forces were now together in the main quad in front of the now damaged main doors to the school. They were feeling confident when Pettigrew showed that he was not the idiot people often thought he was. With a massive cannon shot from his wand; he summoned a large Death Eater force he had kept in reserve, with over a hundred apparating suddenly into the battlefield. These were rested and fresh troops all pointing their wands at the students and teachers; and the forces for light knew they were finished and it showed in their demeanour.

Pettigrew smiled and raised his voice.

"Surrender or die, the choice is yours!" he yelled.

"What do we do?" Molly Weasley asked, the blood dripping down her face from a nasty scalp wound.

Minerva McGonagall looked over the remains of her forces with despair in her soul. She looked dreadful, her usual tidy demeanour long gone; her hair knotted and unkempt. Her eyes were downcast and despondent as she looked at the vastly superior force in front of her. She looked over to the other side to see Cassie laid on the floor, apparently unconscious. So many deaths of her charges and the physical damaged to the school had taken a lot out of her and she was very weak.

"The only thing we can do, we surrender and prey for a miracle. We pray for Harry and Hermione!" she said as she threw down her wand in defeat.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Hermione rushed to the clearing in the centre of the island, her heart hammering in her chest in fear. Harry was out cold, not dead this time she felt but close. Voldemort was struggling but gaining strength as he recovered from the dragon-breath Harry had used upon him. She ran to the clearing, the sword she had used to kill Bellatrix held aloft. As she arrived she could feel the air displacement as Voldemort, still in his dragon form land in the clearing. Harry was weakly struggling to his feet and was bleeding from many wounds.

"Harry! Catch!" she yelled and hurled the sword towards her lover and husband. Harry nodded and twisted to catch the sword. As soon as it hit his hands he once more twisted and used the momentum and every ounce of his strength and magical power to hurl the sword towards the gleaming blade of Excalibur. Voldemort blurred back to his 'human' form and screamed at Harry, blasting him and the sword with curses as he did so. However nothing, no force on Earth was strong enough to stop the blade as it flew true and fast towards the unbreakable sword. Passing the darkness that seem to emanate from the sword; it closed its trajectory and the two metal objects hit. Time seemed to slow but with a sudden ghastly noise both blades shattered. The sword of Gryffindor broke into a million tiny shards of metal, whilst the sword of the magical king of Great Briton splintered into two pieces. The majority of the blade remained in the stone whilst the hilt and broken section of blade fell to the floor with a clang. For a few seconds there was absolute silence before three things happened simultaneously. The first was Voldemort fell to his knees screaming in total and absolute agony as the most powerful of his Horcrux's was destroyed. The second was the Horcrux exploded, dark light exploding from it and an unearthly cry heard. The third was the explosion of magic from the sword itself. This threw magical light high into the air and an enormous explosion ripped outwards knocking trees and everything standing in its path flat. This included Harry, Hermione and Voldemort; all knocked out by the force.

For a long few minutes nothing moved, no sound could be heard and there were no signs of life. However after a few moments Harry struggled to regain consciousness, aware that time was short. He raised his head and saw Voldemort also struggling to his feet and looking around for his wand. He saw Hermione sitting up, her hair a complete mess and a rather nasty looking wound on her forehead where she had been struck by flying debris. He saw the broken shard of Excalibur lying a few feet away from him, and despite everything he could still feel it sing to him. He saw Nimue walk into the clearing with a look on her face he had not expected to see; a look of hope and pride. Somehow he knew what was required of him; instinctively he rolled over to his hands and knees and crawled to the sword shard. Voldemort saw this and something made him panic, something he feared more than anything else was about to happened. Summoning his wand to his hand he pointed it at Harry.

"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" he yelled and the sickly green curse flew the short distance to Harry and hit him in the back. Silently and with no fuss Harry's body dropped to the floor. Hermione's body, like a puppet whose strings have been suddenly cut, also flopped down to the ground with a soft thud.

Voldemort yelled in triumph, his wand hanging limply from his hand as he viewed the scene. He'd done it; finally he'd done it and beaten the prophecy. The world was his, his to do with as he pleased. He started to laugh and dance an obscene little dance.

"I've done it, Potter's dead! Do you hear that Dumbledore, your little boy-wonder failed!" he crowed to the sky.

Unseen by the celebrating Voldemort, unseen by anyone other than Nimue that is, Harry hand had made it to the sword shard and had grasped it before the killing curse struck. It was still grasped in his dead hand as both the shard and the remains of the blade in the stone began to glow.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty – The next great adventure?**

Harry slowly awoke and groaned in pain as his nerve endings started firing once more. "Ouch! What the fuck hit me?" he muttered as he slowly sat upright and looked around.

"What the hell?" he asked as he observed his surroundings. No longer was he on the small island but in a warm and comfortable looking office. It was square with bookcases around two of the wall full of books with odd titles on the spines and a solid looking wooden door in one of the walls. On the third wall was a large stone built fireplace complete with crackling fire and a picture of Hogwarts above it, and on the fourth was a bay window with dark red velvet curtains drawn. Lying on the floor a few feet away was Hermione who was just starting to stir. Harry crawled over to her and gently lifted her off the floor and placed her head in his lap.

"'Mione...'Mione time to wake up love. I don't know where we are but I'm guessing we are not in Kansas anymore." He gently told her. Hermione groaned and put her hand up to her head.

"Shit! That hurt!" she swore. Her eye's fluttered open and she gazed into the eyes of her love for a few seconds before her senses kicked in.

"The Killing curse, you were hit by the Killing curse...Oh fuck! Fuckity Fuck! Shit and Bugger it! D-D-Does that mean were dead?" she asked.

"Not a clue, but we are not on the island anymore." He told her with a laugh for her language. All the times she had told him off for swearing and she was doing it like a pro.

Hermione sat up and looked around in surprise at their surroundings.

"What the hell?" she asked echoing Harry's words.

"Yeah, that's what I said." He told her with a grin. He gently hauled himself and Hermione to their feet and looked at the room more closely. In front of the fire were three high wingback leather chairs with a small table in front of them. Hermione walked over to the door and opened it only to see a brick wall in place of the opening. Raising an eyebrow she walked over to the curtains and pulled them open, only to stumble back and cry out loud, her hands held up to her mouth. Harry actually thought she was going to vomit but she somehow resisted the urge.

"'Mione, what's the matter?" he asked in a concerned voice as he moved to comfort his distressed wife.

"Go look!" she told him, still looking decidedly green.

With a raised eyebrow Harry walked over to the window and drew back the curtains. At first he thought it was just night outside as he was presented with a starry vista in front of him. Never before had he seen so many stars and he gasped in wonder. Turning back to Hermione he looked at her with a questioning glance.

"Look down!" she grated.

Harry turned back and his gaze slowly moved downwards and with a gasp he took hold of the window frame. For beneath the 'room' was nothing...nothing but vast emptiness of space. Slowly he let go of the frame and took a longer look, he could see galaxies and nebulas as well as different coloured stars. He placed his hand against the glass and instantly could feel the coldness of space. He removed his hand and it was instantly warm again. As he gazed he was struck by how beautiful the view was but he could understand Hermione's dilemma. For someone scared of heights, this was the ultimate height; nothing but the vast universe beneath her was enough to send her into the depths of fear.

"Where the hell are we?" Harry whispered.

"Close it! Please!" Hermione begged from the other side of the room. Harry closed the curtains and walked over to her.

"It's closed, does that help?" he asked her in a gentle voice.

"Somewhat!" she stated. "I know it's still there, but the closed curtains help a little. Where in the name of Merlin are we?" she asked echoing Harry's earlier question.

"Well, Merlin has little to do with it my young friends." Came a voice from one of the chairs in front of the fire. Both teens whipped around, hands raised and both of them glowing with power.

"Hey, hey! There's no need for any of that now is there? You are both perfectly safe here." The figure said. His face was hidden in the shadows of the chair but the voice seemed warm and friendly.

"Safe? Safe?" Hermione uttered. "You have an odd notion of 'safe'! What's safe about been in a floating room drifting in the outer reaches of space?" she gasped in surprise and some anger.

"Yes young Hermione, despite your irrational fear of heights, you are perfectly safe here." The figure said. Harry could hear Hermione mumble something about her fear been totally rational but only quietly.

"Who are you sir, if I may ask?" Harry asked in a polite voice. When you find yourself floating in an office in deep space, been polite to the one seemingly in charge seemed like a good idea to Harry. Harry heard the figure chuckle before he answered.

"Yes, been polite seems a good idea does it not young Harry." Harry realised that the figure had read his thoughts so easily that he felt nothing.

"Don't worry about it Harry, I mean you and your good wife no harm." He said as he stood and walked out of the shadows. Whatever Harry was expecting it wasn't the figure stood in front of him.

"Cedric?" he whispered in a strangled whisper, his face taking on a horrified look.

"What? Oh no sorry, you see I don't have a form like yours so I sort of borrowed one from your memories. If you don't like it I can swap it." And suddenly Sirius was stood there followed by his father and then his mother before settling on Sirius once more.

"NO!" Harry cried.

The figure looked at Harry in confusion before he seemed to nod and grimace at Harry.

"Ah I see, you miss these people, sorry...emotions! Never had them before, they are quite ...curious." he replied as his form changed to that of Mr Weasley.

"Is this better?" he asked.

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was wondering who this person was.

"Who am I? Yes well that may take a bit of explaining. You have met the person you knew as Dumbledore yes? The one who ultimately sired you both? Yes? Good, well I'm his boss...well sort of."

"You mean..." Hermione asked pointing upwards with an awed look.

"Goodness no! Well not really...well not how you mean. Oh this spoken language of yours...it's so limiting." He grumbled before he tried to explain more.

"Your ultimate Grandfather calls us Gods of Time, but the word 'God' is inaccurate as is I suppose the word 'Time' but for now that will suffice. We are responsible for the movement of what you both call time and we try to make sure that the things that need to happen, happen and in the right order you see?"

Both teens looked blankly at him.

"No? Oh well how can I make it simpler? I'm a God of Time! Yes? No? Oh well it will have to suffice." He told the stunned pair.

"Why don't we all sit, and I'll make some...tea? Is that right?" he asked a little stumped. Hermione nodded with a slight smile and the two of them cautiously made their way to the chairs. The being smiled and looked at the table and suddenly there was a steaming pot of tea and three cups. As he sat he seemed pleased with himself at first but then looked at the items with a confused look.

"Let me." Hermione said as she poured three cups and added milk and sugar for hers and Harry's. She looked over at the being in front of her. "Sugar?" she asked. 'Mr Weasley' shrugged in confusion so Hermione smiled and added one spoonful and stirred it. Handing him the cup she took her own and sat in the chair next to Harry. 'Mr Weasley' looked at the cup with a curious look and then over at Hermione. She smiled and took a sip of the drink. The being mirrored her actions and took a sip. He swirled the liquid around in his mouth before swallowing.

"Wow! That's amazing!" he gushed.

"You never drank tea before?" Harry asked.

"I've drank anything before." He replied. "I can see why you corporals like it so much."

"You should try pizza!" Hermione muttered, as soon as the word had left her mouth, three meat feast pizza's appeared on the table complete with cardboard boxes. The entity looked at the boxes with some confusion and then Hermione felt a presence touch her mind, and she gasped at the enormity of the presence. It gently brushed against her intellect as it gently sought the appropriate memories. The God of Time smiled and quickly picked up his and opened the box. He seemed the savour the smell and with a little encouragement took his first bite. As soon as the cheesy morsel hit his tongue he groaned loudly, quite embarrassing the two teens by the obvious undercurrent to the moan.

"Oh my... Me!" he uttered, "I think I've died and gone home!"

Nothing more happened for the next ten minutes apart from the Being eating all of his pizza, and most of Harry's. Finally he sat back, burped a little; which caused him to giggle, which in turn caused him to giggle even more; and looked at the two teens.

"Now that was good, but I guess you have questions?" he asked. "Off course you do." He answered himself. "Oh is that rude? Not allowing you to answer. Oh I see, yes it is rude."

"Stop doing that!" Hermione told him. "Stop reading our thoughts, and yes that is considered rude!" she yelled, then put her hand over her mouth in horror as she realised that she had just yelled at a 'God'. However the entity didn't seem to take offense.

"I'm dreadfully sorry my dear lady. Please forgive me; I'm just not used to this corporeal existence."

Harry nodded and turned to face the being. "How may we address you sir?" he asked.

"Ah yes names! Never had one of those before; never saw the need. But for now you may address me as... Bob!"

Hermione couldn't help herself but to giggle. She had expected something far more grandiose than 'Bob'.

"Is there something wrong with the name Bob?" Bob asked. "It seemed appropriate. I nearly picked up on the name that young Hermione was thinking but Slartibartfast seemed a little odd." He said.

Harry stared at Hermione who blushed. "It's from a book I once read, very funny, you should try it." She muttered. Harry just grinned and nodded.

"No Bob, it's a good name. Now is there any chance you could explain to us where we are, and why we are here. Are we dead?" Harry asked.

"Good questions Harry, I may call you Harry? Good. Well where are you? Well you are currently in-between your galaxy and its neighbour floating in an artificial time and space bubble that I created. I have used this matrix..." He said pointing to the study."..to create an environment that you would feel comfortable in. I could get rid of it and we can see the universe together..."

"NO!" Hermione yelled, "No, this is fine." She said, blanching at the thought of floating in space unaided.

"Well yes, that is where we are, why we are here is simple. I needed to speak to you both about a few things that you will both need to know. And to your final question, no you are not dead."

"But how sir, I mean Voldemort hit me with the killing curse and we both were told that even with our immortality, then that would be fatal for both of us."

"Yes, that was true at the time, but not now, not now that you have touched the artefact. Because of that you are both true immortals. Nothing and I do mean nothing can ever kill you or hurt you now."

"Er what about decapitation?" Hermione asked in an odd voice.

"Let me ask you something, the last time you died, what happened? And no I don't mean the time that brought you here, I mean the one that Bellatrix caused." Bob asked her.

"Er, she hit me with a cutting curse that severed my arm at the shoulder." Hermione answered, whilst looking in surprise at her arm. "How did it re-attach itself?" she asked.

"Yes she severed your arm and most of the left side of your body as well and it didn't reattach itself. The energy that the original arm and body parts contained was re-absorbed by your body matrix and used to grow a new one. The same would happen if you were decapitated. It would take longer but the end result would be the same. Even if your bodies were destroyed and blown apart, your life essence would grow new ones. You truly are immortal." He told the stunned pair. "Well you will be when you go back." He added.

"Come again?" Harry asked.

"Well that's part of the other answer I gave. You see here time is irrelevant, and whilst you are here with me, no time will pass on the planet you live on. You see you are still there, lying on the floor with the evil one celebrating his apparent victory; he's a really bad dancer by the way. But you touched the artefact before he hit you and it will change you, it will change you both."

"What artefact?" Hermione asked.

Bob grinned at them. "Look at your shoulders" he told them.

Both Harry and Hermione looked at their shoulders and shrugged. "Yeah, it's a shoulder, so what?" Harry asked.

Bob sighed and suddenly both were topless. Hermione shrieked and tried to cover up her ample breasts with her hands and blushed. "What are you doing?" she yelled.

"What? Ahhhh! No sorry, won't work with me, no sex hormones... no penis either for that matter, but I understand your emotion...I think." Bob replied totally unfazed by Hermione's nakedness. Hermione now found herself with a sleeveless jumper covering her and she sighed in relief.

"That better? Good, now look at each other's right shoulders." Bob told them.

Harry looked over at Hermione's right shoulder whilst she inspected his. Harry was surprised to see what looked like a small tattoo on her shoulder; it was that of a silver sword with a golden hilt.

"Excalibur! You have a tattoo of Excalibur on your shoulder!" Hermione told him.

"So do you, it's quite beautiful really in its detail."

"That's because it's not really a tattoo." Bob told them. "Excalibur has been in existence since before the birth of the universe and will still exist when the universe finally dies. It's not really a sword, but more of a type of energy, almost alive in some ways. It has existed in many forms throughout the eons. Merlin just formed it into the sword eons before the creation of your planet. Arthur thought it was just a sword and used it as such. Voldemort thought it was just a relic and he used it for his purpose. When you touched it; it recognised you as its rightful owner and it once more changed its form. It now resides in both of you as energy once more. This is what has made you truly immortal. You may even outlive the death of this universe and the creation of the next." He told them.

They pair were silent for a moment as they absorbed this knowledge. To be told that may outlive the universe took a little getting used to and even Bob seemed to realise that the pair needed a little time to come to terms with it.

"OOOkayy! Harry exclaimed. "Well that's a surprise...anything else you would like to spring upon us Bob?" he asked in a sarcastic tone that Bob totally and utterly missed.

"Well not really, apart from your powers will grow over time to accommodate your needs. At some point you both will achieve the ability to do away with your biological bodies and live as pure energy if you wish, but I wouldn't worry about that for ohh another million of your years or so."

Hermione looked at him with an astonished look before shaking her head and moving on. "So what now Bob?" she asked.

"Oh yes, Voldemort and that pesky demon. Yes you had better go back and deal with them. Once you have done that we will leave you for a while to recover and live for a bit before your next assignment."

"Assignment?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, there is plenty of work for you two to be getting along with. We may even need to give you code-names...let's see Emerald and Topaz? Nah silly idea. Let's just stick with Harry and Hermione, yes that will work...plenty to do, must get going..." He mused to himself as he began to fade away.

"Err Bob! How do we get back?" Harry asked the fading figure. Bob faded back into the room.

"Oh yes, silly me, let's see now." He waved his hand and Harry and Hermione felt themselves begin to fade from the room. The last thing they heard was Bob saying to them, "Thanks for the tea and pizza." before they vanished.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Voldemort was dancing a grotesque little dance within the clearing when he noticed the woman stood at the edge of the devastated clearing. She seemed totally unfazed by him and her attention was on the prone body of Harry Potter still lying on the ground with one of his hands outstretched. As Voldemort looked at her he stopped dancing and for some reason he looked over at Harry. As he gazed, his wand still held limply in his hand, the boy's body began to glow as did the remains of the sword that was still embedded in the large granite block. Slowly the blade vanished and re-appeared whole at the end of the item that was in Potters grasp.

"No! No that is not possible!" Voldemort whispered. As if being controlled by an outside force, Harry's body rolled over and he moved to lie on his back; the sword moving so it lay along the length of his body. It began to glow more brightly as did Harry's and Hermione's bodies. Silently the sword began to blur and seemingly to blend with Harry's body, before fading totally leaving Harry and Hermione glowing slightly before that also faded.

Nimue smiled a she watched the apotheosis of her life come to fruition in front of her. This was the reason she had existed, to see the holy sword become one with its masters. As she watched she saw Harry and Hermione begin to stir; their eyes fluttering open and limbs beginning to move.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Voldemort screamed.

"It is too late Tom Marvolo Riddle. You have lost and all those that follow you will pay the ultimate price for your foolishness." She told him.

"Who are you to profess to tell me such a lie? I am Lord Voldemort and it is my right to rule this land." Voldemort said his attention now switching to Nimue.

"You are nothing, you are no one, this land and all others reject you Lord of nothing." She told him enraging him further.

"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" he screamed as he threw the killing curse at the figure. Nimue watched calmly as the green light flew towards her and at the triumphant grin on Voldemort's face. This grin faded however when a figure calmly walked into the path of the light and allowed it to hit him full on.

"Hello Tom. Missed me?" Harry asked as the light faded leaving him unscathed. Tom gawped as Hermione moved to join him and stand calmly by his side.

"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" he yelled as he watched the light hit the pair once more with no effect. "AVEDA KEDAVERA" he tried again, this time crying the spell almost in an anguished voice.

Both spells impacted on Harry and Hermione but as before neither had any effect of the pair. Voldemort's eyes rose in surprise at the effect and once more tried other types of curses from Cutting curses to explosive curses.

Harry just raised his hand and an impenetrable shield sprung into place and absorbed the power of all the spells. Getting desperate Voldemort raised his wand and threw a Fiendfyre at the pair. The powerful flames rushed at Harry who in turn raised his hand and just caught the fire. He allowed it to play along his body, but it seemingly did not burn him. After a moment he banished the flames and calmly turned to the now desperate wizard.

"Sorry Tom, but that no longer works. It is time!" Harry calmly said. Tom had now fallen to his knees his head bowed as he realised that it was over, he had failed.

Harry and Hermione both morphed into beautiful dragons once more, Harry was his golden dragon; emerald eyes glowing in the sunlight and Hermione was a beautiful silver coloured dragon; her chocolate eyes staring at the small figure in front of them. They both took a deep breath and breathed out, their breath turning into golden and silver flames powered by the full of the power of love they felt for each other. The fire struck Voldemort and his body glowed bright white before turning to smoke and with a cry it began to dissipate in the wind. It was finally over, Tom Riddle – Lord Voldemort was finally dead – or was he? Unseen by either one of the dragons, a sliver of black smoke, a whisper of a form silently appeared and faded away.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Deep in the forests, stood the wooden shack. Within the shack was the horrendous figure of the creature that was known as Ron Weasley. It sat on a pile of human corpses and waited. It could feel the time was close and with anticipation it looked at the golden cup sat on the table and smiled to itself. It had tricked everyone, Voldemort, the Vampires and even the great Harry Potter.

 _Flashback_

 _The room was silent for a few seconds before Harry noticed 'Ron' moving away from the group towards the small golden cup on the table._

 _"Ron, leave it!" he yelled at the moving demon. Ron stopped and smiled at him. "Harry Fucking Potter, still alive I see!" he taunted. Un-noticed the cup briefly glowed before it rattled and started to move towards the demons out-stretched hand._

 _"No!" Harry yelled and willed the sword of Gryffindor to his hand. With a huge throw, he threw the sword at the cup, it spun end over end towards the moving cup, slicing it in half as the sword flew. The cup burst into flames and a black smoke erupted from it accompanied by an agonised scream that faded into the air. One half of the cup continued its journey to Ron's hand and the other fell to the floor with a clang. Everyone stopped and looked at the quivering sword embedded deep into the stone wall, and at the half cup in the floor. Ron looked at the other half cup in his hand and growled a curse at it before throwing it to the floor. Unseen by anyone, Ron grinned to himself before looking at Harry._

 _End flashback_

What no one had seen was the creature at the very last moment use its magic to swap the cup with a duplicate. All it took was a little black smoke and a theatrical scream to fool Potter and he managed to get away with one of Voldemort's little trinkets. Now all he had to do was wait, and waiting was what he was good at. As he sat he felt the Horcrux activate and begin to glow. Silently the smoky figure of Tom Riddle began to form in front of him, screaming in agony as his body died elsewhere. He was screaming because despite the remaining Horcrux his soul was finally dying. The power of Harry and Hermione's dragon breath was beginning the irrevocable process of dissolving his soul. The soul anchor was doing its best and trying to keeping his soul on this Earth but was fighting a losing battle. The other problem for Tom was that he was re-materialising in the presence of a Soul Vampire, a Soul Vampire who was grinning at him and with his mouth open. The dying re-animated soul of Voldemort barely had time to scream it's last before it, and all his knowledge and power was consumed by the demon who added all that knowledge and power to his own.

"Now Potter, now we can dance!" he growled, as this time Voldemort finally and totally died.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Voldemort's forces watched as the defeated headmistress threw down her wand in despair. As she did so the rest of the demoralised forces followed suit. Peter grinned as he felt the anticipation of what was to come. He would spare the children, they could be moulded to serve the new order but the adults would perish.

"A wise decision Headmistress, you do know that I cannot allow you to live don't you." He taunted. Minerva McGonagall nodded and raised her head in the last act of defiance as she awaited the killing blow that was sure to come. Her eyes closed she silently begged forgiveness for the suffering that she knew was about to happen. After a few seconds she became aware that no killing curse had hit her and the field had gone silent. Slowly one eye at a time she looked across the field of war at the opposing side.

Instead of seeing a grinning Peter Pettigrew, she saw every Death-Eater holding their arms in pain as their faces showed disbelief and pain.

"What is this?" Peter asked as he ripped away his sleeve to show the Dark-Mark glowing and writhing around on his arm. With a sudden cry one of the Death-Eaters screamed in total agony and collapsed to the floor. One by one the remaining Death Eaters screamed in pain before collapsing and lay on the floor twitching with the pain. Peter observed his forces collapse as he too felt the tremendous pain from his Dark Mark. Finally the pain became too much for him and he too felt himself black out. Soon all that was left of Voldemort's army upright were a few unmarked witches and wizards and two confused looking Trolls.

Minerva gaped in astonishment before summoning her wand and pointing it at the few remaining forces.

"Surrender!" she yelled.

The few remaining people watched as the army of light all summoned their wands and began to point them at them. With a frightened look the few who remained surrendered without a word, throwing down their wands to the ground.

Minerva summoned Peter's wand and it flew to her hand. With a crack she snapped it in half and this seemed to be the catalyst for the others and soon the unconscious Death Eaters were all bound and their wands snapped. Molly looked at Minerva with a surprised look. They had won! The army of light began to cheer and cry in relief.

Molly cried in relief as her family rushed to her, Ginny holding her and Bill, Fleur, Charlie and George along with her beloved husband laughed and pounded each other on their backs. That was until Ginny asked the question all were thinking but none dared to ask.

"What about Harry and Hermione?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty One – Celebrations?**

Harry was holding Hermione close to him as they cried together. They had done it! Voldemort was finally dead and the prophecy fulfilled. They had also discovered that they were truly immortal now as they had both the power of Excalibur running though their veins. Both were a little scared by the implications of this, but equally comforted by the fact that nothing ever would separate them. As they held each other close they became aware that they were not alone. Nimue walked over to the pair and smiled at the pair.

"It is good to see you both alive. I take it you are aware of your full inheritance now?" she asked.

The two teens nodded at her, both too emotional to speak at the moment.

"That's good, as a result my work here is now done and I am free to move on." She said in a singsong voice.

Harry took a second to process her words and he did not like the conclusion he came to.

"Wait, Grandmother, you are not leaving are you?" he asked. He had only just learnt that this woman, the daughter of the Fae was his ultimate maternal grandmother and he wanted to learn more about her.

"I'm so sorry dear one but now that you have absorbed the essence of Excalibur, I have no anchor to this world. I have to move on to my next assignment." She told the sad teenager.

"Don't go, please don't go!" Harry begged.

Nimue smiled sadly at the young man in front of her and rested her hand against his cheek. "I have to, it is my time. Look after him Hermione and remember your work here is still incomplete. You may have won this battle but not the war. Use your gifts wisely and have many children. In the eons that follow, remember how much you love each other, and how much your grandfather and I love you." She told them. Both Harry and Hermione were weeping openly now as Nimue moved away from them. She raised her hands up high and cried to the heavens.

"MERLIN, I am ready!"

With a gold light, a figure appeared next to her. Merlin turned and gently kissed his wife before turning to Harry and Hermione.

"Well done you two, I am very proud of you both. Look after each other as well as your friends." He told them. With a screech Fawkes appeared and alighted on his shoulder.

" _Goodbye you two, I have taught everything I can and it is also time for me to leave."_ He told them.

"We will miss you Fawkes." Hermione told him.

" _Ha, no you won't two legs!"_

"Mangy Bird!" Harry said with sad smile.

Fawkes briefly flew over to the pair and covered them both in his wings, dripping tears onto both of them.

" _For luck!"_ he said, before flying back to Merlin and Nimue. He once more spread his wings and the trio began to glow every colour that Harry could think of that grew in intensity so much that both he and Hermione had to turn away. When they were able to turn back all three had vanished leaving the two in the middle of the devastated island. The pair just held each other for a long few minutes before Hermione turned to speak to her husband.

"Oh Harry, you did it, he's really gone." Hermione sobbed.

"WE did it Mione, I couldn't have done it without your help." He told her, lifting her face up so he could look into her eyes. He gently kissed her face and lips, kissing away the tears, when suddenly he thought about something.

"Hey what happened to Bellatrix? What was that Bob said about you losing an arm? Merlin, was that stuff we saw with Bob even real?"

" _ **Off course I'm real! Now get on with it!"**_ Came the thought directly into both of their heads.

Both teens looked around in surprise but no one could be seen. Harry shrugged and looked over at Hermione.

"I guess he must have been real, now what about Bellatrix?" he asked.

Hermione grimaced at the question. "She caught me unawares when I felt you die. I stumbled and she caught me with a cutting curse and it severed my arm and shoulder and killed me. When I came too, my arm was back and Bella was gone. I found her looking over at the lake watching you and Voldemort fight. I used the sword of Gryffindor and ...well let's just say she lost her head about something." Hermione told him.

"You mean you..." and he sliced his hand across his neck. Hermione nodded, she felt a little sick at what she had done, but at the time it seemed appropriate.

"Don't feel bad about it love, if she could she would have killed you and everyone you hold dear."

"That's just it Harry, at the time I didn't feel bad, in fact I almost enjoyed it. Does that make me a monster? Am I becoming that which we are fighting?" she asked in an anguished voice, the tears starting to form in her eyes as she contemplated her actions and how she felt about them.

"No you're not, and the reason I know this is because of how bad you are feeling now. If you were evil, you would not be bothered by what you had to do; HAD to do, not wanted to do 'Mione." He said gently as he kissed her face.

"Thank you Harry, I don't know what I would do without you. I suppose we had better get back to the school to see how they are getting on. Do you think they are still fighting?" she asked.

"Only one way to find out." Harry replied taking her hand. With a last look at the island they both faded away. A few minutes after they had left the island began to glow and slowly fade away, never to be seen again.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The dust had barely settled on the damaged remains of the school before Minerva summoned the healers and medics. They came hurrying onto the battle fields, bags and potions in hand as they treated the injured and moved the dead. The Goblins seemed to have suffered the greatest losses, their dependence on short range weapons a distinct disadvantage over the longer range of a wand. That said Minerva had never seen a happier looking Goblin than Griphook as he and the young Silverfang limped over to her.

"Good fight!" he growled as he held up his son who had lost one arm.

"Sweet Merlin, do you need a healer?" she asked in horror.

"No Ma'am" Silverfang replied with a grin. "I have already seen one and they have cleaned and sealed the wound. Don't worry about my loss; I will be able to sing about this day to my children for decades to come. Injuries like these in such a battle are considered a great honour." He said. Griphook looked at his son with pride; he was a warrior now and would be honoured as such.

"Headmistress, we have need of a place to rest before we return to the bank. I know my father will wish to come and speak to you and Lord Potter when he gets here."

"You have our eternal thanks Warrior Goblin, you may use the main Hall, ask the House elves for any refreshments you may need. You and your clan have fought with honour and skill today and we are forever in your debt." She told him. Upon hearing the word 'debt' Griphook grinned, those were his kind of words.

"The Goblin nation will hold you to that debt, but I believe in Lord Potter and I have no doubt that the debt will be repaid many times over." He told her before the pair of them limped away, grinning like fools as they did. They were followed by the remainder of the Goblin forces; all of whom were looking happy.

She shook her head as she watched them walk away. She would never understand the warrior attitude but she was glad they were there. The losses would have been far greater than if they weren't.

With a sigh she looked over as Poppy Pomfrey walked over. "Well?" she asked.

Poppy sighed. "Well you know about the Goblins, apart from that we lost twenty three students and order members along with nearly all of the Gargoyles. Filius is badly injured but we hope he will be fine in due course but we lost Hagrid and his brother, Colin Creevey, Seamus Finnigan, Terry Boot, Charity Burbage, Michael Corner, Padma Patil..." she continued to read of the list of the dead. As she read, Minerva's head bowed and tears trickled out of her eyes.

"And the injured?" she asked in a whisper.

"Too many to read out, but nearly all are not critical. Fred Weasley lost both his legs but for some reason is still joking and laughing. Keeps going on about being 'legless' when he drinks. Lavender Brown was mauled by one of the werewolves, but we don't think she will be infected, she will however be scarred for life but she will recover. None of the Deatheaters managed to get through our lines within the castle so all the younger years are safe."

"And them?" Minerva asked as she jerked her thumb over her shoulder to the ranks of bound Death Eaters that had been roughly moved over to one of the walls.

"Well they will be fine eventually, but they are all very low on their magic, and they always will be. It seems that He who must...Damm it! Voldemort's mark increased their magical power but now with him apparently gone they have reverted back to the power levels they had before they took it. They are all out cold and will be for hours yet. It could have been a lot worse Min, if they hadn't had collapsed when they did...well it doesn't bear thinking about! What do you think happened?"

"Harry! Harry happened. I think he must have killed Voldemort and when that happened the Dark-Mark took the extra magic from all his followers. The shock must have knocked them out."

"Where are Mr and Mrs Potter, do we know if they are alright?" she asked.

"We haven't seen them yet, but I'm sure that they will be fine, after all if they killed Voldemort, what on Earth can hurt them now?" she replied.

"And what about her?" Poppy asked, pointing at the prone figure of the school, lying on a makeshift cot.

"Well yes, I'm worried about Cassie. She has suffered greatly both due to the loss of life and injury as well as the physical damage to the school. A healer tried to help but ...well she's not human. I think time is the only thing that will help, time and maybe the Potters."

"Well let's pray that they get here soon." Poppy replied. "Come on indoors; let me see to that cut. There is nothing you can do out here anymore. We can bring Cassie with us and make her more comfortable." She told her friend as she examined a deep cut on the headmistresses arm.

Slowly, with a last look at the rows of dead and the bound Death Eaters, Minerva McGonagall followed her friend into the battered school, the floating avatar of the school following behind.

A few minutes later Harry and Hermione silently appeared in the grounds of the school and looked around in shock and horror.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione whispered as she first caught sight of the damage to the school before she gasped out loud at the sight of the covered bodies being slowly moved to a more appropriate place of rest by the healers and some students. A few looked over at the couple but seemed to realise that they both needed a few moments alone.

Harry grimaced at the sight and then glared at the bound Death Eaters. He held his head in his hands and Hermione felt the weight of his guilt pressing down upon him.

"Look at me Harry James Potter; this was not your fault. Voldemort was to blame for this, and we needed to stop him. People were always going to die in this war, but without you and your skills the death toll would have been much - much greater." Hermione told him as she held his face.

"I suppose your right, but look..." he answered whilst spreading his hand over the school and towards the bodies.

"I know, but buildings can be rebuilt and those people died for what they believed in, they died free and that is important."

Harry looked around, lost in thought; that was until he spotted a figure lying with the bound Death Eaters.

"Pettigrew!" he snarled and quickly walked over to the small rat like man bundled in magical ropes. As he got there he wandlessly cast the Ennervate spell to wake the unconscious traitor.

Pettigrew's eyes fluttered open and he groaned in pain. His eyes widened as he saw the very annoyed wizard in front of him.

"Harry! How good to see you..."

"Shut it Wormtail, don't think you can wriggle out of this one. You are on your own now... Riddle, your master is dead!"

Peter's eyes grew large at the news and then narrowed and he took on a calculating look.

"Well done Harry, just as I planned. Your mother and father would be so proud of you." He wheedled.

"DONT YOU DARE MENTION MY PARENTS! You have no right to speak their names; not after you betrayed them." He yelled at the scared man.

"Harry, Harry...Betrayed? No?" he began. Harry leant down and physically hauled the man up by the lapels of his cloak and glared into his eyes. Peter whimpered, his feet dangling in the air. Harry raised one hand and it began to glow, he looked at the evil man in his other hand, dangling in the air. His eyes narrowed and his hand began to tremble with the barely repressed spell. Peter stared at the glowing hand in terror as he contemplated the death that the glowing hand represented. Finally Harry screamed out in frustration but dropped his hand to his side.

"You are an evil man and I should kill you where you stand...dangle! But I am not Riddle, and the law is the law. You will be judged by that law and will be found guilty and spend the rest of your miserable life in prison and I hope you rot in hell! "He finished as he dropped the man to his feet. Peter blanched when Harry stated that he was to spend the rest of his life in prison and so he tried to change to his Animagus form to escape. He scrunched his face up in concentration but nothing happened. He tried once more but soon he had to realise that for some reason he could not bring about the change. He began to wail and tried to grab the hem of Harry's cloak, begging for forgiveness and help.

"Struggling with your magic there Peter? I guess Voldemort took more than your soul when he marked you." He sneered.

Harry lashed out with his foot and caught the man on his jaw sending him flying back to the rest of the unconscious Death Eaters.

"Scumbag!" Harry muttered and cast a stunning spell at the distraught man. He fell back against the sea of bodies and Harry turned away to face Hermione.

"I thought you were going to kill him." She said with a worried look.

"I very nearly did, but then I guess I'm not Voldemort." He said with a wry grin before his visage turned once more melancholic.

"Harry, you are a good man and the Death Eaters will pay for their crimes once we have a good government in place." Hermione told her.

"A good Government... you do know what that may mean to the pair of us don't you?" he asked, worry etched across his face.

"I guess so, but if that's what we have to do then so be it." She replied. "We will be fine as long as we are together." She said.

Harry nodded and once more looked at the damage inflicted upon his school.

"I guess you are right, let's sort out the school building though. It pains me to see her like this."

"You sure you're up to it, you used a lot of magic earlier." Hermione asked.

"Yeah, magically I feel...powerful. I think that is a result of Fawkes 's final gift, you know his tears." Harry told her.

Hermione concentrated on her own power and realised that Harry was right, she felt very powerful indeed.

"Okay, but let's do this together." She replied. Harry grinned a sad sort of grin and summoned Merlin's...no HIS staff to him. They held hands and shut their eyes. Concentrating slightly Harry raised his staff and the tower that was damaged seemed to flow upwards and repair itself, followed by the window glass flying up from the ground and back to their frames. Lastly the two massive wooden doors repaired themselves. As they worked Cassie had appeared next to Harry and Hermione and as soon as they finished working she threw herself into their arms sobbing her heart out. She was trying to speak but was crying too hard to get any intelligible words out.

"Cassie, shush." Hermione soothed. "It will be fine, we are here now, and we love you and always will do." She told the traumatised school.

"M-M-M-Mother...look at what they did." She said as she gestured towards the dead. "A-A-A-And so many hurt... it's horrible." She hiccupped into her embrace.

"Cassie, can you tell me who has died please." Harry asked in a hurt voice.

Cassie looked up and slowly morphed from her child persona to her adult one. "Harry, this was not your fault. They would have come here with or without anything that you did. Because you killed him you saved us all. The battle was lost and we were defeated. The Death Eaters were about to kill all the adults and enslave the children when they all collapsed. I know that was when you killed him and without you and Hermione we would all be dead or worse." She told him in a gentle voice, her own grief still evident but her concern for him overriding it.

Harry nodded and sniffled but looked at her with a determined look. "Thank you Cassie I needed to be told that; can you tell me what happened here? He asked her. Cassie began to tell Harry the events of the battle in detail. She ended with telling him about the fate of the Death Eaters.

Harry nodded but there was still something he needed to know.

Thank you for that Cassie but I still need to know who has died."

Cassie sighed and began to recite the list. Both Harry and Hermione gasped at some of the names, especially the ones they knew well such as Dean, Seamus or Colin.

"I'm sorry Harry, so sorry to tell you this but Hagrid also died. Both he and his brother were trying to lure the giants away when they were killed." Cassie told him.

Harry stared at her with an odd expression. The words would not sink in; Hagrid was his first friend, the one who rescued him from his prison. He stood and walked over to the outer edge of the quad with his head down as the words and thoughts ran around his head. Slowly he looked up to the heavens and suddenly he screamed in pain and anguish, not just for Hagrid but for all the dead. The ones that died here today and those that had died before. He screamed for Dan Granger, he screamed for Xeno, Augusta, poor little Colin Creevey and the others. He even screamed for the Dursleys. As he screamed the clouds turned black and thunder and lightning crashed across the sky. Finally, emotionally exhausted he fell to his knees and wept for those lost. He became aware that Hermione was holding him close to her chest and he nuzzled into her breasts for comfort. As she held him the clouds returned to their previous state and the sudden storm abated.

"Harry?" she whispered.

"Yeah?" he answered in a broken voice.

"We have company." She replied. Looking up, Harry saw that everyone who was capable had come out to witness the return of their saviours. Even some of the injured had made their way down to the school entrance. Fred was sat in an odd looking wooden wheel chair, grinning like a loon (or due to the medication he was on) with George stood next to him with the rest of the Weasleys. Charlotte was stood hand in hand with Luna in the front along with the remaining teachers. They were all silently watching the pair as they knelt on the ground in grief. Slowly Harry climbed to his feet and aided by Hermione faced the school.

Neville, with Ginny by his side slowly started to clap to a slow beat that was soon joined by others. Within moments the entire school was applauding the pair, cheering and yelling their relief and happiness that the tyrant was gone.

 _#But I don't deserve this...all those that died?#_ Harry thought to Hermione, embarrassed by the attention.

 _#Do you not think they know about the dead, or grieve as much as we do? They need this, and they are aware that if you hadn't of stopped Voldemort when you did, the outcome for them would have been much worse.#_ Hermione thought back, equally embarrassed by the attention, but more able to contemplate the reasons.

Finally Harry understood, he had killed Voldemort, and he had somehow saved many lives. Sure there were losses, but the losses were not his fault but Voldemort's.

He finally smiled at the group, and this seemed to be the instant many had being waiting for, because suddenly many of his friends rushed forward to embrace and hug the couple.

Luna had run up to them first and was currently attached to Harry's side; Charlotte was holding Hermione's hand and crying her eyes out.

"Hey Lotte, it's okay, we are fine." Hermione told the young girl.

"I-I-I-I was so scared for you, for both of you." She hiccupped at her.

"Shush, it's over for the moment, Voldemort is dead. And you are safe." Hermione gently told her. Harry was comforting Luna and Ginny who had also run up to him. Finally Professor McGonagall walked over to the group.

"Lord Potter...Harry...oh Harry!" she began but the tears beat her and she broke down and cried.

Harry put an awkward arm around his headmistress and tried his best to consol her.

"All those deaths...I'm sorry Harry but I tried to stop them, there were just so many of them." She cried to him.

Harry was amazed. He thought that everyone would blame him. Never did he consider that others would blame themselves. It was something of a cathartic moment for Harry as he realised that.

"Minerva, please don't blame yourself. The outcome could have been a lot worse from what Cassie tells me if you and the rest of the students didn't fight as hard as you did. The only people to blame are Tom and his Death Eaters." He told her gently.

Minerva nodded sadly and smiled at him. She turned and looked at the large crowd behind her and back at Harry with an expectant look on her face. Harry looked puzzled and turned to Hermione.

"Love, she wants you to address the crowd." Hermione told him.

Harry gasped, "I can't do that! I don't have that right." He said.

"Love, these people fought for themselves, they fought because it's right but they also fought for you and me. They deserve to be thanked for that, and I know you can do this." She said.

Harry breathed a resigned sigh and then he stood tall and turned to the crowd. They all went quite as the young man in front of them gathered his thoughts. For a few seconds there was silence as Harry worked out what he wanted to say.

"Students, Teachers and Goblins – defenders of Hogwarts. You have all fought bravely today and because of your actions the world is a safer place. Voldemort is dead and his followers are defeated. Many of our friends have paid the ultimate price for our victory; many more are injured or hurt. Our world is in turmoil, we have no real leadership or government but those that fell require us to fight on. We owe it to them to make our world the best it can be and with your help I believe that we will grow stronger and our society will become one we can be proud of. One where any magical being from any background is treated with honour and respect; blood does not dictate magical ability – Tom Riddle thought that and he paid the price for his beliefs. We cannot let the seeds of evil grow again, if we do nothing then another with evil in their heart will come forward. A wise man once said that all it takes for evil to grow is for good men to do nothing. We cannot do nothing, we dare not let that happen. We owe it to our friends and colleagues to make this world a better world, we owe it to the fallen here today and those that fell before. Let us not fall into that trap again. Thank you."

There was a short moment of silence before the crowd erupted in applause and shouting. This carried on for a while before Minerva began to usher people back to the school and Poppy began scalding the injured for leaving the infirmary. Soon all that was left stood outside were Harry, Hermione, Luna, Cassie, the Weasleys and the headmistress.

"Good speech Harry." Minerva said with a proud look on her face.

"Well said Harry, I am so proud of you, well both of you really." Molly said.

"But Fred..." Harry began.

"Harry don't worry about Fred, he's alive and that's all that matters. He may have no legs but he is still my son and I'm sure that the pair of them will come up with something."

Harry nodded and was about to say something when Minerva spoke up. "We still have a lot to do Lord Potter. Jugson and his cronies are still in charge in the Ministry and he will be sure to try something so the Pureblood bigots retain their grip on power. We need to plan our response and soon." She said.

Harry grimaced at the possibilities that presented themselves to him but nodded in acceptance.

"Can you gather our people in the Room of Requirement in a few hours time to plan this? I will ask Dobby to bring the people at the Cottage here. But first Hermione and I need to freshen up and find some food, I'm sodding starving." He said causing a few giggles from the small crowd.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was an hour later and Harry and Hermione, now fed silently appeared in their bedroom at the Cottage. They wanted a few minutes of time alone and the school failed to provide that. Everyone was running around either helping to tidy the place up or helping with the wounded. The captured Death-Eaters had all been placed in the expanded cells in the dungeons with the other prisoners. There was an interesting moment when Peter was placed in the same cell as Serverus Snape. Peter's eyes raised and his face filled with hope when he first saw the ex-potions master. But they soon fell when he realised that Snape was a drooling mindless husk, staring into space. The rest of the prisoners'- well the rest that had regained consciousness made the usual threats of retribution and dire consequences, but they all went unheeded. The unconscious ones were placed in the cells and then unbound. They were all searched and any wands found were snapped and any portkey's destroyed. Water and bread was placed with all, but nothing else.

Harry looked around his house, almost silent at the moment, due to the reduced number of occupants present and breathed a deep sigh of relief. He took Hermione in his arms and looked down on her upturned face. She was looking into his eyes and he could sense all sorts of emotions coming from her. Relief that Voldemort was dead, shame at killing Bellatrix, fear of the future – both their absolute immortality and the potential upcoming battle with Ron, tiredness, a small amount of lust and massive amounts of love for him.

"Mione..." he breathed as he took in her scent, a delightful mixture of strawberries and honey. He slowly bent down to capture her lips with his and they had just begun a most delightful kiss when they heard from the door way a noise.

"Ahem!"

Both teens sighed and rested their foreheads against each other for a few seconds before looking up. Stood at the doorway were Emma Granger, Dudley and Lisa along with Andromeda with the small baby Teddy resting in her arms. The traumatised Pansy was stood at the back of the group, her features haunted and scared.

"Well?" Emma asked in an odd voice, afraid to ask the obvious.

Hermione looked at her mother with love as well as sadness as she contemplated the loss of her father once more. She cleared her throat and tried to smile at her, but this soon turned to a grimace.

"We won, but at a price. We lost quite a few friends and colleagues but we won." Hermione told her mother who had tears in her eyes as she looked at the pair.

"Who?" Andromeda asked in a strangled voice.

"Remus and Tonks are fine Andy, Tonks broke her arm when she tripped up but they are both fine. They are helping with the wounded but told me to let you know that they will be back later."

Andromeda sobbed with a mixture of relief and shame, relief that her daughter and son-in-law was fine, but shame that she was so relieved about her family but knowing that others were not so fortunate.

"We lost Hagrid and his brother though, as well as many more." Harry said in a strangled voice, and he recited the list of the dead to the group. Emma had moved over and was holding her daughter, crying with relief as well as some grief for the people who had passed even though she didn't know any of them.

"Mum, it's okay. I'm fine and Voldemort is gone. The battle still however goes on and we don't have long before we need to go back. For now the physical fighting is over, that is until we have to face Ron, but the political fight is just begun. Our world is a mess and the pureblood bigots are still in charge. We need to go back to face them and put a good government in place of the corrupt one we have now. It may mean Harry and me revealing things we don't want to known but if that's what it takes then we will do it." She told her.

"What things love?" Emma asked.

Hermione looked over at Harry and a brief unspoken conversation took place before Harry nodded to her.

"Mum, Harry found out something about his ancestry a few days ago and it affects me because I am his wife. You see Harry is the heir of Arthur Pendragon..." as she spoke Andromeda, Lisa and Pansy gasped and all fell to their knees with head bowed.

"Please you two don't do that, we neither want nor do we deserve this." Hermione told them embarrassed by the actions. Emma and Dudley were looking confused as they gazed at the kneeling witches.

"Hermione, do you mean by Arthur Pendragon – King Arthur as in Merlin and Arthur, the king?" she asked in an awed voice.

"Yes mum, both Harry and I are related to Merlin and his wife Nimue and Harry is related to King Arthur. Harry abdicated, or at least tried to abdicate the rights to the throne, but it seems that we may need to reveal the connection if we are to get things done."

"Wow, so that means you are..." Emma began but trailed of in confusion as she tried to work it out.

"Yes, I am the Princess Hermione Jane Pendragon as well as other titles but it's all rubbish really. I am and always will be just Hermione for you and all my friends." She told her awed mother.

There was a long silence during which Harry gently pulled both Lisa and Andromeda up to their feet. Pansy tried to resist and when Harry did manage to get her to her feet she kept her head bowed and refused to look at him.

"Pansy? Pansy, look at me please." He asked in a gentle voice. Slowly the girl raised her head and demurely looked at him.

"My Liege!" she whispered.

"Pansy, I'm nobody's Liege. I am just Harry to my friends, and despite all that has happened I believe that you can be my friend. How are you feeling?"

"Better my Lord, Andromeda has helped with the pain and I am trying to come to terms with what happened to me. My family is dead to me, they helped Malfoy to achieve his goals and it was my father who first placed the Imperius on me. I have no family now and I have no place in the world. I am Pansy Noname..." she wept.

"Not anymore, from today forward you will be Pansy Potter, sister to me and sister-in-law to Hermione, so mote it be!" A flash of light sealed the vow and for the first time in a very long time Pansy smiled a genuine smile as she felt the Potter family magic fill he being.

The rest of the group were watching with smiled on their faces and soon Emma turned back to her daughter, aware that she was not telling her something.

"Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?" Emma asked.

"Err.. Well you know what we spoke about when you and Dad first came here and the two conditions that made us vulnerable. Well they have now gone and we ..." she broke off and began to cry into her mother's arms.

"Mum, we will live forever, maybe even longer than that." She whispered into her mother's ear."

"So why are you crying?" Emma asked her quietly in her ear.

"I don't know, it's just a lot to take in you know. If I didn't have Harry with me I think I'd go nuts, but I do have him and always will." She sniffed.

Emma straightened and smiled. "Come on you two, let's have a drink and you can tell us of your plans. It looks like we have a government to soon topple."


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty Two – How to Topple the Ministry – Part one.**

It was early the following day; Harry and Hermione had spent most of the evening with the remaining Order members and their close friends discussing the plans for the reformation of the Ministry. They had talked long into the night and despite a few arguments the plans had been made. A lot depended on Harry and Hermione but they had both assured the group that they were prepared to do what needed to be done. Both Harry and Hermione had decided to go back to the cottage for the night and had taken both Tonks and Remus with them. The reunion with the pair and their son and Andromeda was emotional and it was an exhausted immortal pair that finally fell into bed.

They were awoken by the sounds of a baby crying somewhere in the house. Harry was slightly confused for a few seconds by this unfamiliar noise before his senses kicked in and he realised that it was Teddy. He could hear Tonks get up to see to her infant son and Harry felt very comforted by the very normalness of the situation.

"Hey Harry, do you think that may be us in a few years time?" Hermione whispered in his ear.

"Merlin I hope so love." He replied.

He felt her smile and then she huskily whispered in his ear, "Want to practise?"

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

An hour later, the two showered teens made their way down to the kitchen of the cottage and greeted the few who were up.

Emma Granger looked over at her daughter and recognised the 'glow' of good sex and she sighed with a sad sigh. It was not as if she held it against her daughter but it was times like these that she missed Dan the most.

"Morning you two, you are looking...well." She commented.

Hermione had the grace to blush as she picked up her mother's insinuation but smiled and nodded. Tonks sat with baby Teddy in her arms guffawed loudly as she fed her son. She was discreetly holding the small baby to her breast and seemed very content; her broken arm clearly mended overnight. Normally Harry would have blushed to see Tonks's breast, even just the small amount he could see at the moment, but for some reason he found the sight beautiful and it nearly brought tears to his eyes.

"Wotcha Harry, how are you doing?" she asked. She had a dreamy smile on her face as her son drank his breakfast, his hair colour mirroring his mother's bright pink look.

"Well Tonks, well. You seem happy." He replied.

She looked down and Teddy and then back at Harry with the biggest smile he had ever seen. "I'm sore, shattered and yesterday was awful...but I have never been happier than right now."

Harry walked over and gently brushed the hair of his godson, who glanced at him but did not stop feeding. His hair however briefly turned black and his eyes turned emerald green, before he looked away and carried on his breakfast. Slowly his hair resumed its pink colour.

Harry looked into Tonks's eyes and smiled. He gently kissed her head and walked back over to Hermione who looked at him with a quizzical expression.

"Later." He muttered before turning back to the small group.

"We have to be going, will you be okay here?" he asked.

"Don't you even want breakfast?" Emma asked.

"Yes, but we need to get it at the school. We are expecting something to happen today and if we are right, it will be an interesting breakfast." Hermione told her mother.

"Okay dear, you be careful, and you Harry." She said realising that even if they weren't careful nothing would be able to harm them anyway.

Hermione smiled and kissed her mother on the cheek and then the two faded away.

Remus walked in and looked around in confusion. "Did I just hear Harry and Hermione in here?" he asked, his eyes red from lack of sleep.

"You just missed them; apparently they have a plan and need to be at the school for it to work." Tonks said to her sleepy husband.

"Damm, I wanted to thank them." He muttered and poured himself a coffee...a strong one...a strong black one.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry was sat with Hermione at the Gryffindor's table as breakfast was being served. Despite the traumatic events of the previous day there were many students present all talking and discussing the events of the battle. Like all kids, they soon bounced back and whilst there were some tears for lost friends, these were all dealt with compassion and understanding from the other students, teachers and a few of the remaining medics with counselling skills. Most were trying to enjoy their breakfast and the usual strict house table's rules had been relaxed. Friends sat with friends and siblings with siblings. Even some of the Slytherins were been made to feel welcome at other tables. Daphne Greengrass was sat with the Gryffindor's along with Tracey Davis. There were some notable absences with some of the injured still in the hospital wing; Lavender Brown was still recovering but she was being kept company by Parvati.

However amongst a small group, a palpable sense of tension could be felt as they awaited the action to begin. Luna was sat with 'Lotte and they both kept looking towards Cassie who was sat on the top table with the headmistress. Both were nervous as were a number of the teachers. Suddenly Cassie looked up and glanced at the doors to the hall. She nodded to herself and then looked over at Harry and Hermione.

# _There here, he and ten marked Aurors and ten unmarked but Imperiused ones have just apparated the boundary of the wards, he has a further fifteen taking up positions around the school. Are you happy to let them in?#_ she asked Harry silently.

 _#Yes, we did remember not to add the Dark Mark ward didn't we?#_ he asked.

 _#Yes, they will be allowed to pass.#_

 _#Well let them in...Its ShowTime! Make sure Minerva knows#_ he grinned causing both Hermione and Cassie to glare at him. He just shrugged and nodded at Luna who nodded back. Soon all the ex DA members who had been briefed on the plan knew what was about to occur as well as the guest members of the Order still present at the school.

As they students ate their breakfast, most blissfully unaware of the impending events, Harry tried to act nonchalant. Suddenly the main doors to the hall were flung open with a crash and in walked Dante Jugson, supposed Minister of Magic accompanied with his twenty Aurors. All had wands drawn and mean looking smirks on their faces.

The headmistress stood and faced the ugly looking man. "Minister, a pleasure to see you here at Hogwarts after yesterday's events. How may we help you today?" she asked politely.

"Headmistress." Jugson sneered at her. "I am here to arrest two murderers and terrorists and to place one dark creature in a place where it belongs, as well as to free some upstanding citizens this school is holding illegally." He said, spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke.

As soon as he spoke everyone went silent and stared at the slightly foaming man.

"Minister those are very serious charges; may I ask who the three accused are?" she grated.

"These people are not accused; they are guilty. Guilty of killing our glorious predecessor, Madam Bellatrix Le-Strange, Lord Thomas Riddle and many others as well as attacking numbers of innocent pureblood witches and wizards. Guards arrest Harry Potter and Hermione..." here he looked down on a fragment of parchment, "...Granger, and place the Dark Vampire known as Luna Lovegood in chains."

"Minister, surly you jest, those men and women were known Death Eaters who attacked this school yesterday, and Riddle was Voldemort..."

"Rubbish, they were upstanding members of our world. They were responding to reports that Potter was holding children captive and came to help when they were attacked in a unprovoked battle." He replied with a mad grin.

As soon as he finished talking he motioned to the Aurors who moved to surround the pair of immortals who were still nonchalantly eating breakfast. Another set moved towards Luna who bared her fangs at them causing them to gulp and step back slightly.

# _Idiot! He can't even get my name right!#_ Hermione murmured in Harry's head. She heard a mental laugh from her husband before he looked up at the men surrounding them in faked surprise.

"Oh good morning gentlemen. How may we help you?" he asked, whilst eating a slice of crispy bacon.

"That's enough of that Potter!" the Auror is charge said as he knocked the bacon from Harry's hand. The man then roughly pulled Harry to his feet and pulled both of his hands behind his back to attach a set of magic suppression cuffs.

"Now for you Mudblood!" he snarled at Hermione, who was also yanked to her feet.

"Oi! Don't you call my wife that!" Harry yelled in a theatrical voice. Both he and Hermione had expected this and were playing to the audience.

"Silence scum!" another Auror shouted, backhanding Harry across the face. This caused Harry to fall backwards, blood appearing on his lip, which his immortality immediately repaired. However he maintained the image of the blood on his face as well as making his lip appear to swell. By now Hermione was also bound with cuffs and being manhandled back towards the Minister. The two covering Luna had bravely conjured silver chains to hold her and she was smiling at them with a very disconcerting smile, her fangs clearly on show. If they listened carefully they would have heard her growl very slightly.

 _#Silver Chains! Idiots that's werewolves!_ # Harry heard Hermione mutter. As Harry looked at her with a grin he was pulled by his hair and dragged towards the Minister, causing him to grimace in pain.

"Harry Potter and his Mudblood whore! Well-well, how the mighty has fallen; now common murderers of good honest purebloods." Jugson sneered at him, confident that he had the upper hand. He spat in Harry face, causing the students to grumble angrily. A few had risen to their feet, wands drawn. This was noticed by the Aurors who also raised wands.

"Students! Stand down!" Professor McGonagall yelled. Harry was staring into the dark eyes of Jugson who was smirking at him. Harry just stared at him for even longer and this caused Jugson to begin to worry as he gazed into the green orbs in front of him. For a brief moment of clarity Dante Jugson saw his death in those emerald green eyes before the madness once more reclaimed him. The moment was broken when a small group of Aurors led into the hall a small number of the prisoners from the dungeons, Pettigrew at the head along with the remaining members of the Punishment squad and Alecto Carrow limping with them. All were pale and tired looking; a fact of their reduced magical power even if some of them didn't know it yet.

"Is that is Stebbins? Where are the rest?" Jugson asked in an annoyed voice.

"These are all we could find Sir; we tried all sorts of revealing spells but nothing. The only one we left was Snape. His mind appears to have totally gone sir, no doubt Potters work."

Harry smiled to himself and nodded at Cassie.

# _Well done Cassie, make sure the others are kept hidden, we needed to give them something and these seemed the best option.#_

 _#Thanks Father.#_ Cassie thought back. Meanwhile Jugson was spluttering in rage.

"Where are our other comrades? And what did you do to Serverus Snape?" he asked forcefully at Harry.

Harry just grinned at him, a feral grin that had little humour in it.

"You must have killed them as well, more charges to add to the list! Aurors take them away. Headmistress we will be back for arrest warrants for more of your students as well as yourself. Do not run, we have guards surrounding the school as well as anti-apparition wards in the immediate area." He said in a loud voice. As soon as the Aurors tried to take Harry, Hermione and Luna away, a large number of the students moved to intercept them, wands drawn.

"STOP!" Harry yelled. "This is not the time, don't worry about us, we will be fine!" he shouted in an attempt to allay the potential bloodshed.

"Well said Potter, even so they can do nothing to help you now!" he grinned and the pair were roughly marched away followed by the small group of ex-prisoners. As soon as they left the hall, all hell broke loose with students and some teachers all shouting and yelling at once.

"SILENCE!" Minerva yelled, her voice magically enhanced. "Please everyone calm down. Lord and Lady Potter were aware that these events would happen and have planned for this. Mr Longbottom, is your team ready?"

Neville stood up, with Ginny by his side. "Ready Headmistress." He replied.

"Good, you may begin. Everyone else can I suggest we enjoy what is left of breakfast. There is still a lot of clearing up to do."

Neville, Ginny and other members of the DA all stood and left the room followed by Cassie whilst everyone else slowly sat back down, grumbling as they did.

"Good luck Harry." Minerva whispered to herself.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry allowed himself to be manhandled out of the school and out of the grounds of Hogwarts. All the time he was communing with Hermione through their bond checking that she was fine. The magical suppression cuffs, whilst uncomfortable, had no effect on either of their magic but they played along for the moment. Luna was still smiling and this was un-nerving the Aurors. When they got clear of the school, Jugson turned to the crowd of Aurors.

"Apparate back to the Ministry where we will deal with these two with a fair trial under a modified Wizengamot." He told them sniggering at the word 'fair'. He was looking exhausted and was swaying on his feet. The rest of the marked Wizards and Witches were not looking any better, only the Imperiused ones were looking well. They soon apparated away just leaving the marked Death Eaters.

One by one they tried to apparate away, some managed it, others failed completely; One left his arm behind which hung in the air for a few seconds before falling to the ground with a squelch.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Jugson yelled and one by one they vanished until only Jugson was left with Harry and Hermione and their own guards as well as Luna and her two guards.

"You will have to side-apparate them." Jugson told the guards. The one holding Harry groaned and tried to side-apparate them both. Harry grinned to himself and resisted the move. The Auror stood there stupidly and blinked a few times.

"Having trouble?" Harry asked politely, only to receive a cuff to his head for his trouble.

"Well that's rude, I was only asking. Well carry on." He said in an insulting tone. Hermione was grinning; her guard was having just as much trouble apparating as Harry's was.

They all stood for a few more moments whilst the Aurors struggled to move them.

"Need a hand?" Harry asked, jingling the cuffs behind his back.

"Shut up you!" the Auror snarled.

 _#I think that's enough don't you love?#_ he thought to Hermione who nodded imperceptible at him.

Harry released his hold on the area and this allowed the two holding onto Luna to vanish. The remaining two Aurors and Jugson tried once more and with a loud 'pop' all five of them vanished. In fact Harry and Hermione had to provide most of the power used, so weak were the marked Aurors. With a loud noise all five appeared in the main foyer of the Ministry. Both Aurors and Jugson fell over in a sprawl leaving Harry and Hermione stood grinning over them. Luna was giggling from her spot a few paces away, her own guards just managing to get up after their own trip.

"You guys okay?" Harry asked the Guards and Jugson innocently causing Hermione to giggle a little. Jugson hit him cleanly in the face snapping Harry's head back. Harry glared at the man and spat out some blood.

"You need to watch your temper, Minister. Voters don't like a hot headed leader." He snarled.

Jugson stared at him for a few seconds before he spoke back.

"Let's see how a few hours in a cell cool your humour Boy! We may have to play with you for a while as well as your delightful Mudblood whore! We will leave your tame Vampire chained up with her to watch our comrades play with your whore." he snarled, Harry grinned back; although the grin had little humour in it and they were then roughly dragged through the Ministry to the holding cells where they were both thrown into separate cells and the doors slammed shut.

Harry looker around his new surroundings and wasn't impressed. The cell was dark, damp and cramped with little in the way of comfort. There was a rough wooden bed with no bed clothes or even a mattress. There were no toilet facilities except for a small grate in the floor and the room was freezing cold. He grimaced as he looked around "Well isn't this nice." He muttered, to himself. As he continued to take in his new accommodation he spotted in one corner of the room an opaque glass ball hovering and buzzing like an angry egg. It was humming slightly and he recognised it as a recording globe. It would be relaying images and sound of him to his cell keepers. Smiling to himself he turned away from the globe and silently cast a spell that fooled the instrument into relaying an image of him sitting desolately on the rough wooden bed and sobbing slightly. This done he turned back and with a clank the suppression cuffs fell to the floor. He warmed the room up and threw a glowing ball of light into one corner to illuminate the room better. With a silent thought he conjured a comfy armchair and sat in it to await the next event.

 _#Harry, you okay?#_ he heard Hermione say in his head.

 _#Yeah, just warmed the place up a bit and made myself_ comfy _. You?#_ he thought back.

 _#Same, got rid of the cuffs and made myself a nice sofa. Did you have a recording globe in your cell?#_

 _#Yeah, I charmed it to show me weeping on my lovely bed in here. How's Luna?.#_

 _#Hungry! I've removed the chains and fed her, so she's a little happier now. I charmed the globe to show me weeping on the bed and Luna struggling to free herself.#_

 _#Good, how long before they come for us do you think?#_

 _#Not long I imagine, you do know they will try to torture you and try to rape me don't you?#_ came the thought.

 _#I know, I will play along with the torture but what about you?#_

 _#Don't worry about me, They won't be able to lay a finger on me.#_ she thought back. _#How long do you think it will be before they put us on trial?#_

 _#A few hours at the most, they will need time to pull the Wizengamot together. We know that nearly all of the Wizengamot is either corrupt, a Death Eater or greedy. There are a few good people but most have fled. We need to remove them and then we can act.#_ he said.

 _#Yes but we also need to find those good ones that have fled. We want a democracy not a dictatorship don't we?#_ she asked, she heard Harry laugh back at her.

 _#Crikey yes, I don't fancy having to run this crazy world any longer that we have to.#_

He heard her sigh in his head and felt her settle down to wait. With a wry grin he conjured a cup of tea and waited himself.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Neville and his team cast the last of their spells as the last Auror that was left to guard the school fell. Neville bound him and Cassie vanished him to the dungeons to join his companions.

"Okay Cassie, that the last of them, you can raise the Death Eater wards now and we need to be ready for Harry." He said.

Cassie concentrated and everyone felt the wards alter around the school. The small group slowly walked back to the main building where they could see a small group of Goblins appear. Getting closer they saw Griphook and Silverfang bow to a tall but old looking Goblin.

The older Goblin nodded in return and they could tell that he was asking a question. It as obvious that he did not like the answer and they heard him yell.

"They did WHAT? And YOU LET THEM TAKE PRINCE PENDRAGON AWAY?!"

Cassie looked at Neville and Ginny and they all broke into a run.

"My Lord Goblin, it is not how it looks." Cassie yelled as she skidded to a halt in front of the annoyed Goblin.

"Sorry for the interruption, let me introduce myself. I am Cassiopeia or Cassie. I am the sentient representation of Hogwarts. This is Neville Longbottom and his promised Miss Ginevra Weasley."

"Lord Ragnok at your service. May I ask what is going on? I was here to congratulate Prince Pendragon only to be told that the idiot Jugson has apprehended him and the Princess." He asked in a worried voice.

Cassie looked at Neville before answering the Goblin leader. "Don't worry sir, it is all part of Harry's plan. He knows that we need a strong Ministry now and this was his way of getting inside the building and flushing out all the Death Eaters and supporters of Voldemort in one go. He knew that Jugson would try to arrest him as a way of putting them both out of the way and continuing with the power play that he is in. Harry wanted us to make sure the school was free and that we are ready to help him if needed. He wants to hold elections for the new Minister, elections open to all over seventeen regardless of blood status but we need to take control first. He asked me to give you this letter explaining it and requesting the help of the Goblin nation. When he takes control he will need military help until we can train more Aurors and gain a new government."

Ragnok nodded at the words and took the letter. He knew that Harry would hate the publicity but his sense of what was right, not what was easy would kick in. He sliced open the letter with one sharp claw and read its contents silently. As he got to the end his face was lit up with a massive, and none too friendly grin.

"Well then the Goblin nation better stand ready to help Prince and Princess Pendragon." He said with his grin getting wider.

I.Y. I.Y .I.Y.

The cell door was flung open and three wizards entered the cell, wands drawn and evil grins on their faces. Harry recognised one of them as Philip Parkinson, father to Pansy but the other two were unknown to him.

"So Potter, not so clever now are you? None of us really believe you killed the Dark Lord. He will be back once more and when he returns you will not be around to get in his way. Time to get what's coming to you...CRUCIO!" Parkinson yelled. The sickly yellow light shot from his wand and impacted on Harry's chest. Unknown to the attackers, Harry had heard and felt them coming and had vanished the chair he was lounging on and mentally prepared himself for the curses. He had also created an illusion of the magic suppression cuffs back in place on his wrists. Despite this, the curse did hurt and it took very little acting on Harry's part to play the role of agonised victim. Falling to the floor he screamed in apparent agony causing the men to laugh as one by one they each added their own curse to Parkinson's. Finally they stopped and Harry lay panting on the floor, his muscles aching in protest briefly before his immortality stopped the pain. However Harry played along and tried to look at them in agony.

"That's just the beginning Potter, we will be back and just to let you know, your Mudblood whore is in the cell next door, the walls are thin and you will be able to hear her screams as we rape and torture her." Parkinson laughed as he shut the door.

"NOOOOOOO!" Harry yelled before suddenly standing and moving back to the newly conjured chair. He then conjured a glass of water and took a drink.

 _#Harry? You okay?#_ Hermione thought.

 _#Yeah, it hurt a bit but compared to Tom's Crucio it was nothing I couldn't handle. Mione, they are coming for you next.#_ he warned.

 _#Yeah I'd guessed that, don't worry I'll be fine.#_ came the reply. Harry felt the link break as Hermione heard the cell door open. The three men walked into her cell and grinned at her. The grin however faltered as they saw Hermione sat on a leather sofa with her own smile, Luna lounging on another chair in the corner delicately sipping from a glass of warm blood.

"Hello boys!" Hermione drawled as she wandlessly cast a memory charm on the three making them believe that they had raped and tortured her, whilst hurting Luna with the application of burning crucifixes' and dousing her in Holy water.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Harry grumbled to himself as he 'saw' how Hermione dealt with the idiots, feeling more than a little embarrassed.

Hours later and after numerous attempts to attack the pair which they both now fought off with memory charms, the cell door burst open once more, but this time a set of clean robes was thrown at Harry.

"Get dressed, it's time for your trial." The Death Eater smirked. "And don't worry, despite your friend's attempts at the school we have still managed to find a Dementor eager for your company when you are found guilty. We have also a nice shape axe for the Vampire." And with a laugh he slammed the door shut and left.

 _#Mione! It's Showtime!#_ he thought as he dressed in the robe.

Half an hour later the trio were dressed and being escorted through the Ministry towards the courtroom. There were nearly ten Aurors escorting them, wands drawn and the route was lined with workers jeering at the pair. As they walked they could see other workers prompting the jeering so it seemed that some if not all were being coerced into the public display of hatred. Before long they were taken into court room number ten. As they entered they were aware that the courtroom was full of witches and wizards, most looking gleefully as they awaited the show to begin, but there was a small but significant number looking horrified. The pair were roughly pushed into the two chairs set up in the centre of the room and as soon as they sat, rough metal chains snaked their way over the pairs bodies and held them tightly in place. Metal gags also magical appeared over their mouths to prevent them from talking. Luna was taken and roughly chained to a metal post that was sticking out of the ground.

Standing in the corner was the dark cloaked figure of a Dementor, the protective wards around it twinkling in the dim light.

Dante Jugson stood and looked around triumphantly, his eyes gleaming with madness.

"I call forth this emergency session of the Wizengamot to bring to trial and justice two murderers. Harry James Potter and Hermione Jean Granger are both accused of the murder of Lord Tom Riddle, Lady Bellatrix Lestrange, my predecessor Minister Pius Thicknesse, as well as the suspected murder of Deloris Umbridge and Lord Lucius Malfoy. They are also charged with the deaths of nearly a hundred purebloods during a fight at Hogwarts school yesterday where they were aided by this dark creature stood here and persons yet to be charged at the school. Other charges include the attacking numerous loyal Witches and Wizards as well as the death and torture of hundreds of Muggles. Due to their un-natural ability to charm people with their lies they have been rendered unable to speak for your protection. Assembled members I personally put my own safely at risk to hear their pleas and both have made guilty pleas. These pleas have been entered into the records and both have therefore been found guilty of their crimes."

Upon hearing this, a few of the members started to angrily protest, but the rest of the assemble applauded and cheered and so the cries went unheeded.

"I can understand your anger of the crimes and deception these two have perpetrated and share your horror at the enormity of their crimes and your pleasure that they have been brought to justice. It is with these thoughts in mind that I have no hesitation in sentencing them both to death. Harry James Potter! Hermione Jean Granger! You have both been found guilty by your peers and I hereby sentence you to death by Dementors kiss. The creature that was known as Luna Lovegood, you are an evil dark creature and you also are to be destroyed. You will have your head removed by axe and your body destroyed by fire. Sentence will be carried out immediately and may Merlin have mercy on your souls. Guards! Release The Dementor and executioner destroy the Vampire!"

A man with a black hood on walked towards Luna, a large shape axe in his hands whilst the Auror guards grinned and extended the wards around the Dementor to include the two prisoners. With a snarl the Dementor began to move towards the pair.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty Three - How to Topple the Ministry – Part two.**

 _A man with a black hood on walked towards Luna, a large shape axe in his hands whilst the Auror guards grinned and extended the wards around the Dementor to include the two prisoners. With a snarl the Dementor began to move towards the pair._

As the creature came closer it suddenly stopped and its head shot upwards as it looked at the pair of immortals. It seemed to sniff the air and stopped but despite the urgings of the Auror guards it refused to move forward whilst it considered the pair. It stood for a few seconds before throwing back its head and screaming in fear, pain and ...something else. Everyone was starring in shock; the black cowled executioner paused in his act of raising the axe high to remove Luna's head.

"What's wrong with the ruddy creature?" Jugson asked, frustrated that the pair hadn't been kissed yet. "Make it kiss them!" he shouted.

One of the Aurors conjured a long stick and tried to poke the screaming Dementor with it, but instead the Dementor started to back away from the two immortals. It was still screaming in fear as it backed away; it's cries sending waves of fear and loathing to all those in the court. As it moved it's ward line moved with it and it bumped into the executioner causing the man to take a sharp intake of breath as he relived his life's worse moment, the axe dropping from his unfeeling fingers with a loud clang. The Dementor took no heed of the man and continued to back away in terror. It was then that the Auror with the stick made his last mistake. Frustrated by his apparent lack of success, he moved closer to the creature, intending to try to move it back to the pair. Inadvertently he crossed the ward line and suddenly with a snarl the Dementor grabbed the stick and pulled it closer to itself bringing the Auror with it. The Dementor grabbed the man by the neck and with a nasty slurping noise sucked out the unfortunate mans soul. The creature let the body fall with a sickening thud and continued its retreat from the pair until it got to the edge of the courtroom where it stood making odd whimpering noises.

The death of the Auror had happened so fast that everyone was still stunned by the Dementors actions.

"Wah...What?" Jugson yelled incoherently.

 _#I think it's time love.#_ Hermione gently thought to him.

Harry sighed and mentally nodded to his wife. With a single thought he banished the chains from both Hermione and his bodies and slowly stood up. The chains holding Luna melted away and she stretched he arms wide and grinned at the now terrified executioner, her fangs gleaming in the light. Harry walked over to Hermione and took her hand. With a final grimace they both turned to look at the cowering Dementor and with a wave of their hands the creature burst into red flames and with a long drawn out scream died. Luna had the executioner in her arms and with a slash of one of her claws she ended his life quickly and mercifully. She did not drink any blood and seemed very sad as she completed her task.

Jugson upon seeing this also jumped up and started to shout and rave, he was even starting to foam a little at the mouth so frantic was he. The assembled members of the Wizengamot who were sympathetic to the teens slowly stood and summoned their wands aware that the powerbase was about to shift once more.

"Aurors, stop them!" Jugson yelled and the few Aurors near Harry and Hermione ran towards them only to encounter a strong shield that held them back.

Jugson panicked at this point and withdrew his own wand, pointing at Harry he yelled the first spell that came to his mind.

"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" Three things happened at this point; the first was the green spell flew towards Harry who made no attempt to move or protect himself. The second was the gasp from the assembled member, shocked that an Unforgivable had been used in the chamber, and the third was the effect of the spell as it hit its target. That effect was absolutely nothing, an effect that surprised all those who witnesses it.

"I think that's enough Jugson, don't you?" Harry said as he summoned Jugson's wand to his awaiting hand. With another thought he snapped the wands of all the Death Eaters still in the room and bound them with metal ropes.

"What? How? You don't have a wand!" Jugson screamed.

"Nor do I need one, and I think this charade has gone on long enough." He glanced at Jugson and with a slight flash Jugson was sat in the chair and bound and gagged. Harry turned to the assembled Wizengamot and raised his voice to address them.

"Witches and Wizards of the Wizengamot. Voldemort is dead and his reign of terror is over for good this time. This should be a time for rejoicing and celebrating but there is something foul at the heart of this world. That something is you! You have become fat and ineffective as a ruling body due to your corruption and greed. I see from your reactions that most of you disagree with this, although there are some, a few honest people who are nodding at that. You have been judged and for the most part found wanting. That is why as of today, you are not needed and as of now I am in charge of the Wizarding world of the United Kingdom and Ireland." Harry declared and then was silent as he waited for the expected response. He was not disappointed, for after a few seconds of stunned silence the room erupted into a cacophony of sound. There were screams, shouts of derision and insults as well as a few...a small few spatters of applause. Those faces were noted and burned to memory by the three stood in the centre of the room. Finally the assembled masses slowly realised that Harry was just stood there with a small smile on his face and the noise slowly died down. Eventually the room was silent but Harry just stood there, waiting for the question he knew would come and ever so slightly dreading it. Finally an old man, rage etched on his face as he contemplated the words spoken by this young whippersnapper stood and spoke.

"You!? What right do you have to suggest such a thing? Who do you think you are?" he asked in a wheezy but annoyed voice.

Harry smiled to himself as he glared at the old man. "I am Lord Harry James Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter, that's who I think I am!" he grated.

The old man looked stunned but recovered quickly. "That name gives you the right to speak to us, but it does not give you any rights in disbanding the entire Wizengamot Potter!" he snarled in a disrespectful tone.

Harry sighed and knew that the time he was dreading had come. He took Hermione's hand in his and with a slight smile to each other they concentrated. Deep within a dark vault under Gringotts bank two delicate golden circlets briefly glowed before fading from the vault. Within the court room, the two immortals had begun to glow also. With a soft golden light the two circlets gently appeared on their heads and the glow faded slightly. With a few tears collecting in Harry's eyes he reached down and gently brushed his lips against Hermione's before turning back to the now awed crowd.

"Did I forget to mention that I am also Prince Pendragon and my lovely wife is the Princess Pendragon. That is what gives me the right to disband this body."

As expected there was chaos as the members of the court room considered then news. Harry let the chaos run for a minute or so before he raised his voice.

"SILENCE!" he yelled, his magically amplified voice. "As of this moment, the Wizarding world of this county is now under my law. I Prince Pendragon, heir to the magical throne of Great Britain do hereby take control of my ancestral seat and take my place as head of this realm. So mote it be!" he said and a magical flash signalled the acceptance of his pledge.

Suddenly there was a commotion within the audience and as one five wizards all stood, there wands drawn.

"You will never take control from us!" one of them yelled as they all cast the killing curse at the same time. The five beams of green light merged to form one large beam that buzzed angrily as it moved quickly to the pair stood in the centre of the room.

It struck them both at the same time and they both felt the power of the curse tug at their souls. Luna screamed as they both collapsed to the ground, the power of the five spells even too much for them to bear. There was a stunned silence as everyone looked at the two fallen teens. The man who had shouted laughed and a few of his comrades cheered.

"So much for Prince Pendragon! Someone get rid of that scum and we can get on with our business, oh and someone release Dante. We need to move on the school and arrest to bloody trouble-causers over there." He snarled.

The Aurors had been still during most of the altercation but now moved forward. Once moved to stop Luna from escaping whilst another moved to the bodies of Harry and Hermione. He first bent down and took both gold circlets of the two bodies and with a grin turned to put them somewhere safe. As he turned around he missed the next few events. First Harry's body gave a twitch and then Hermione's followed suit as there immortality kicked it. Harry clambered to his feet pulling Hermione with him as he did so.

"SHIT! That hurt!"Harry growled quietly as he looked around, taking in his surroundings. Seeing the Auror with his back still to the scene, Harry gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"I'll have them if you don't mind." He said as he took the circlets from the now slack jawed Auror who looked at Harry from feet to head before fainting clean away. Harry looked at the fallen Auror with an amused grin before handing Hermione her circlet. He placed his back on his head and glared at the Auror holding Luna at wand-point. The Auror gulped and slowly dropped his wand to his side and moved away.

Harry raised his head and looked at the stunned people. "Now that wasn't very friendly was it?" he asked the wizards who had fired the curses at them. Raising his voice so all could hear him he addressed the Wizengamot.

"As you can see, the Princess and I are a little hard to get rid of. Now don't worry too much, I am no Lord Voldemort. In fact I really didn't want to do this today but I was advised that this was the only way. As I said before being rudely interrupted, I am in charge and you are all dismissed. I have no desire to rule you or anyone else for that matter. I am quite content to live my life with my wife and make lots of babies, but that may have to wait. Once we have sorted a few things out there will be public elections to create a new government to rule; these elections will be held in a few weeks time and everyone over the age of seventeen will be eligible to vote, Squib, Muggleborn, half bloods and purebloods; man and woman! No one will be barred from this vote. The years of corruption end today and once we have a new leader then they will form a publically elected government to rule us." As he spoke he could hear the rumblings of dissatisfaction mostly due to his statement of everyone been able to vote and not just the elite. Harry let the cries die out and noticed that one of the wizards raise his hand. He nodded to him and awaited his question.

"My Liege, as you can no doubt tell many here are not happy with your statements. Whilst you have shown great power - power that we have never seen before; and I mean this with great respect, you are only two people whilst we are many. You may have the right to lead, but you are missing the forces with which to back it up. How are you going to maintain control whilst you arrange these elections?"

Harry nodded and smiled. "I'm glad you asked and it's easy my friend, like this!" and he sent a brilliant white Patronus out of the court. A few seconds later there was an almighty bang as the two great doors to the courtroom were smashed open and a full legion of Goblins marched in. At the head was Ragnok in full battle armour and behind the legion was the remaining members of the Order along with the DA. Also surprisingly was a full complement of red robed Aurors lead by non other that Viktor Krum. Following behind were a number of journalists, Rita Skeeter at the helm. The assembled Wizards finally realised that this was happening and fell silent as they observed the impressive show of power. Viktor broke away from his Aurors and walked over to Harry and Hermione. He stood in front of them for a few seconds, observing the pair before slowly falling to one knee and bowing his head.

"My Liege! I present a full complement of Aurors for you in this moment of need with da full compliments of my Uncle. I am also here to help you in return for your vork in ridding us of our Vampire problem." He said, head still bowed. Hermione walked over and gently pulled her friend to his feet. She kissed each cheek and held him gently.

"Viktor, good to see you again. You need not bow to us, we are your friends. How is Katarina?" she asked.

Viktor smiled and with a grin he replied. "She is good my Hermy-own-ninny and looking forward to meeting you." Harry walked over and took Viktor's hand in his.

"Good to see you again Viktor, thank you for coming and please thank your uncle when you see him next. The Aurors will be very useful."

By now Ragnok had walked over and was stood in front of them. He saluted by clashing his arm across his chest and briefly bowed his head. Everyone watching gasped at this show of fealty, the leader of the Goblins had never bowed to any wizard before.

"Well met my Liege! May I present to you a full legion of Goblin warriors in aid of your efforts. I will leave my son and heir in charge of them and he will report directly to you for the duration of this transition."

"Thank you friend Ragnok, I understand your warriors performed brilliantly in the recent battle. May the survivor's honour grow with the passage of time and the fallen dine in the goblin halls for all eternity." Harry said, the words coming to him because of his heritage.

Ragnok bowed once more and then winked at Harry before retreating back to his men. Harry turned back to the assembled wizards and witches and addressed them once more.

"Until the elections have been held I name Kingsley Shacklebolt as the interim Minister and Arthur Weasley as his deputy. These men have shown themselves to be true and honest and will lead us in this time of change. Those men who attacked myself and my wife will be arrested." As he spoke the Bulgarian Aurors were moving to take the five men into custody.

"Dante Jugson, you will also be arrested for attempted murder and unlike the 'trial' you gave myself, my wife and Miss Lovegood; yours will be a fair one. Anyone with the Dark Mark will also be arrested; as you're so called lord and master is now dead, you will find you're magic much less powerful than before. The Mark was much more than a summoning tool, it allowed Voldemort to draw power from you as well as share his power. Now that he is gone you will find, life more difficult Finally all current UK Aurors with the exception of Nymphadora Tonks, Edward Savage and Gawain Robards are now disbanded and under investigation. I am placing Auror Robards in full charge of the Aurors and we will start recruiting new Aurors as soon as possible. All current Aurors please turn in your badges and wands and give yourselves over for questioning to Auror Robards. Any failure to comply with these orders will result in deadly force. You are all dismissed but as you leave you will be checked for the Dark Mark and other dark items. Anyone found in with either of these will be subject to arrest. That is all!" Harry declared and with that the old regime as gone, replaced by the birth of a new and more just system.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The creature that had been known as Ron, now only known as the Creature was feeding once more. This time he had taken an entire family of Muggles and was just finishing off the soul of the father who had been forced to watch his entire family butchered as the Creature fed of their fear and horror. The Creature looked a lot different now, tall at nearly twelve foot and with a very powerful looking if inhuman body; the only feature that resembled anything human was the face. The face was that of the wizard Ronald Weasley, scraps of red hair still visible on the skull amongst the black tendrils that hung from it. The Creature was also a lot more powerful and knowledgeable now thanks to his draining of the Dark lords soul essence. He was glad he didn't drink all of the evil soul as due to its break-up after been attacked by Potter; the power of love would have hurt the Creature. No, he had only taken what he needed and left the rest to rot and fade into the inky darkness of eternity.

The Creature could feel the time to spawn approaching and was preparing for the day by eating plenty of souls. Before he could reproduce however he knew he would have to kill and destroy Potter and his whore as they would never let his younglings grow to maturity. The younglings would be vulnerable at first and even he would be unable to protect them during the spawning due to the nature of the event.

He snapped the back of the human male he was eating and relished in the death throes of the pitiful creature. "Soon, very soon Potter!" he grated, his voice an evil parody of the boy he once was.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry and Hermione along with Luna appeared back in the cottage, exhausted and hungry. After dismissing the Wizengamot they had spent the next two hours checking for Dark Marks. Sadly over fifty of the so called leaders had either the Mark or dark items on their persons and were currently being held in a modified jail that had been set up in the bowels of Gringotts. All but two of the Aurors had surrendered; the two in question choosing to fight rather than hand in their badges. Both were now dead - regretfully killed by Harry and Hermione. Happily as they left nearly twenty of the ex-members swore a fealty oath to Harry and Hermione and promised to work with them in the creation of the new government. After this they had a four hour meeting with Kingsley, Arthur and other key figures as well as conducting an interview with Rita for the Prophet.

"Merlin, I'm knackered!" Harry announced as they arrived in the kitchen of the cottage. There were a few people still wandering about but they all stopped and stared at the two immortals and the vampire. Slowly one by one they all dropped to their knees. Molly, Andromeda, Remus, Bill, Fleur, Pansy, Lisa and followed by a bemused but awed Dudley. Finally Emma looked at her daughter and nodded before dropped to her knees and bowed her head. Harry and Hermione looked on in dismay as their friends and family showed there respect.

"Why?" Hermione whispered.

Luna answered her by pointing to her head with one finger. Hermione raised her hand to her head and felt the golden circlet that signified her new position as well as the pair's acceptance of what that entailed. Her eyes widened as she felt the crown and she quickly removed it.

"Mum, friends - you never need to bow to us. We are just Harry and Hermione, just as we have always been. Please get up." She begged.

Emma Granger slowly stood followed by the others. "Hermione, you will always be my daughter and I will love you till the end of days, but you are never ever going to be 'just Harry and Hermione' ever again."

Hermione looked stunned at the statement and tears formed in her eyes.

"But...but..." she began.

Her mother moved to embrace her and wiped away the tears. "We will treat you the same as before but you need to know that you are both special now. People will sense that and treat you both differently. You have taken a great responsibility and I know that as soon as the new government is in place you both intend to move away from the limelight but it will never leave you totally. I for one am very, very proud of you both and I love you both very much."

Harry also embraced the pair and they stood for a few moments whilst Hermione composed herself. Harry had also removed his golden circlet and vanished both of them back to their vault.

Remus came over to them with a tray containing tea cups for the two immortals and a bowl of chocolate cake for Luna. Luna took the bowl and looked at Harry with puppy dog eyes. Harry grinned and waved a hand. The bowl was now swimming in fresh blood and the happy vampire took a spoon and attacked her supper with relish.

"Remus, how's Dora and young Teddy?" Hermione asked trying to get some normality into the conversation.

Remus managed to turn his slightly nauseous face away from the happily slurping vampire and with shake of his head looked at Hermione. "She is well and having a bath. Teddy is asleep for the moment, no doubt waiting for us to go to bed before waking up once more." He said with the look that only a new parent can have.

Harry laughed and took his cup of tea. "Ha, if only Sirius could see us now, me a married man and you a knackered father. He'd laugh so hard that he's wet himself."

Remus took his own mug, his full of strong black coffee agreed with Harry. With a sad smile they both clinked mugs and raised them.

"To the smelly mangy dog, where ever you are. We miss you and love you." Harry said with a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Dudley and Lisa walked over to them and Dudley looked at his cousin with a large degree of awe.

"Harry, I'm a little confused as to why everyone bowed to you both. Hell I'm confused as to why I did as well, it just seemed the right thing to do."

"Dud, you're confused? How the hell to you think I feel? It's all ridiculous but apparently I'm related to both Merlin and King Arthur. My current title is Prince Pendragon and 'Mione's is Princess Pendragon. We could have been King and Queen but I abdicated the throne...or so I thought. The powers that be seem to like biting me on the arse though and I am lumbered with the title for the moment. Don't worry though, as soon as we can we will try to fade into the background and get on with our lives."

"Wow! Does that mean I have to bow when we meet?...hey if your related to royalty does that mean I am as well?" Dudley asked.

Harry laughed at the look on his cousin's face, despite the loss of his parents he seemed to be coping very well, although Harry suspected that had a lot to do with the young woman holding his hand and smiling at the look on his face.

"No Dud, you don't need to bow when you see me, and as far as I know the royal line comes from my Dad, that said you will be distantly related to some of the founders as I get blood from both my father and mother for those... but before you ask, no you don't get a title." He said with a smile.

Dudley looked disappointed but Lisa whispered something on his ear causing him to blush bright red. He cleared his throat and looked at Harry with aplomb.

"Don't worry your Highness; it seems that my wife to be has a good title for me. If you would excuse us." He said and with them both giggling they left the room at a fair pace.

Harry looked on with a mixture of amusement and sadness on his face as he contemplated another family broken apart by Voldemort.

"Come on Harry, let's sit down. I think some people want to know what happened today." Hermione told him gently. Harry allowed himself to be pulled to the large kitchen table where they discussed the day's events with the interested parties. Towards the end of the conversation the floo activated and Professor McGonagall requested permission to come through.

After she had been given a drink she turned to Harry.

"Lord Potter...Harry, first let me thank you for ridding us of 'He Who'...oh sod it...Voldemort. You have performed a service to our community that cannot ever be repaid. The school is to hold a memorial event on Saturday and we would dearly love to have you and Lady Potter present. Secondly all the relatives of the fallen have agreed that they would like their loved ones to be buried in an area set aside on the school grounds. The school meant a lot to all and as owner of the school we need your permission to do this. There will be a permanent memorial to all those who fell and you are both invited to a service to honour the dead on Sunday. The individual families involved will have the interment ceremonies themselves after the service and many have asked for you to be present. I know this will be hard for you both but it would mean an awful lot to the grieving families."

Harry briefly looked over at Hermione who just nodded slightly before answering the headmistress.

"Off course Headmistress, we will be there both days. What time on Saturday?" he asked.

"Noon, but if you could come before, I know a lot of the students would like to see you both...and we have to discuss your futures. Are you coming back to repeat your seventh years?"

Harry felt a tug of longing from Hermione despite her new vast knowledge and for a brief moment it was like the old times. Harry didn't know what the future held but he could tell that Hermione wanted this, if only to feel normal for a short while.

"Well we haven't discussed it but I think that there may be a strong possibility that we will be back. We have a few things to sort out, like a new government and of course Ron... but we will see."

"Good that's all we can ask. Now if you don't mind, I need to get back to my school and my students."

"Off course, we need to get some sleep." Harry replied.

Harry and Hermione eventually managed to get to bed where they finished the day in the same manner in which they started it; in each other's arms making love to one another.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty Four – Moving on?**

The next few days seemed very long and each day felt very similar for the pair. Meeting after meeting within the Ministry whilst they tried to create a more fair constitution for the Wizarding world was the order of the days. The press were been very helpful for once and continued to publish accurate and true stories about the events at the school as well as the continuing events at the Ministry. Over a hundred people were finally arrested and another two hundred questioned by the fledgling Auror force aided by the Aurors from Bulgaria. All trials were to be held after the elections and when a stable government was in place and so all the prisoners were been held on remand. Since all the Dementors were either dead or had fled, Ragnok had cleared one of the larger empty vaults in the bank and converted it to a temporary prison. Due to presence of over a hundred Goblin warriors as well as two very large dragons, none of the imprisoned wizards had been brave enough to attempt to escape. The marked Death Eaters however were having a bad time of things; as they continued to get weaker and weaker due to the magical drain they were experiencing. After a second day in the makeshift prison, the first Marked Death Eater died due to a complete collapse of his magical core. Despite urgent medical help by the end of the day all of the marked wizards and witches had perished. The last to die was Peter Pettigrew who asked to see Harry in his final hour in order to beg for forgiveness. Harry refused and Peter died alone in agony.

Three days after the events in the court room they felt that they had done it. The documents and treaties were written and the date for the elections set. In two weeks, for the first time in their history, full and fair elections were to be held. There were four candidates running for the position of Minister; Kingsley Shacklebolt was the public's favourite candidate running with Arthur Weasley as his second. Stephen Greengrass, father to Daphne was also running. He was not one of Voldemort's supporters and had been considered to be 'grey' in the war. He was furious that his daughter had been threatened in the school and pledged to stamp out any sign of the Dark from the future Government and thus was a popular candidate. Peter Davis was his second, a fact that Tracy was immensely proud of. The other candidate, Jack Goyle; distant cousin of Gregory, was trying once more to promote the Pureblood doctrine, but it seemed not many were listening to him and he was considered a bit of a dangerous choice to support. The forth candidate was a surprise and most considered a joke. Fred Weasley was 'standing' for the post, his manifesto was simple – pranking was to become an official subject at Hogwarts and general silliness was a common theme in his speeches. George was of course his running mate and the pair were both having a great laugh at everyone's expense but also were bringing a sense of fun to the serious proceedings.

The rebuilding to the damage to the village of Hogsmeade was in progress, but so complete was the destruction in many areas, that many were using it as an opportunity to redesign the entire village to include a lot more up to date shops in the muggle style as well as the Wizarding style. Indeed many of the new shop owners vying for a plot were muggleborn's attempting to bring things like muggle fashion, jewellery, food and cosmetics to the new village. There were even plans to have a small branch of Gringotts in the extended village, magically linked to the main bank in London so the villagers and students would have easier access to their money. Even so the old shops were still to be included and it seemed that the village would be twice as big as before. Progress was fairly rapid, magic still was very useful and both the Goblins as well as influx of newly freed House Elves were helping with the construction. After every long day, Harry and Hermione would apparate back to the cottage and spend time with the guests living there. It was on one of these nights that Harry suggested something to Hermione.

"Mione, we are married yes?" he began.

Hermione looked confused as she looked at her immortal husband. "Yes love, you know we are."

"But we didn't have a proper wedding; we just made our vows in the shower after having sex." He replied, forgetting that Emma was sat with them. Upon hearing her gasp, he blushed a deep red colour causing Hermione to giggle out loud and Luna to chuckle into her evening drink of blood.

"Yes, and very good sex it was too my love, but what is your point?" she replied, totally unfazed by the talk of sex in front of her mother.

Harry glanced at his mother-in-law with some discomfort before clearing his throat and once more looking at his wife. "Well you deserve more than that, we should have a proper wedding, one where our friends can come and celebrate with us."

Hermione felt the tears threaten to fall once more as she gazed at the man she loved more than anything else. "Oh Harry! That's a lovely idea. I would love to have a proper wedding but it will have to be soon. We will need to go back to school soon." Then a thought struck her and suddenly the tears in her eyes were not such happy ones. "Oh, but who will give me away? With my d-d-dad dead I have no one to do that."

Harry gulped; he had not intended to re-open sore wounds. As he moved to take Hermione in his arms he saw Emma wipe away a few tears.

"Hermione, despite your father not been here, I know he would still have wanted you to have a proper wedding. He will be with you in spirit always and nothing would please him more than to see you walk down the aisle. Why don't you ask Arthur to give you away? I know he thinks a great deal of you and he and Dan got on very well that one time he met him." Emma said to her crying daughter.

Hermione sniffed and hiccupped a few times before she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Your right Mum, it just hit me that I will never see him again and it hurt so much. Sorry Harry, I didn't mean to get so upset but what with the talks and everything that's going on in the world I guess it just got to me a bit. I think it's a lovely idea and I would be honoured for Arthur to give me away. Can we arrange it for next week after the funerals? Say Tuesday? It would help to have something nice to look forward to. Luna can be a bridesmaid and we can ask Ginny to be another Bridesmaid." She said.

"What about Charlotte as well?" Luna asked.

"Oh yes, Harry 'Lotte would love that!" Hermione gushed.

Harry nodded and kissed her gently on the mouth. Emma however was looking pensive.

"Do you think we can arrange it that quick, I mean where will we hold it and the catering and everything?" she asked in a worried voice.

Hermione just laughed and smiled at her mother. "Mum, don't worry we can have everything sorted even quicker that that if we wanted. We will have the wedding at Hogwarts and we can ask Cassie to perform the ceremony, as to the catering... Dobby! Winky!" she shouted the last two words and with a slight 'pop' the two house elves appeared looking very happy.

"Mistress calls for us? How may we help?" Winky asked.

"Winky, Dobby. Harry and I have decided to have a proper wedding next week at Hogwarts on Tuesday. Do you think you could help with the catering arrangements for the whole school plus another thirty or so?" she asked the excited elf.

"Easy my Lady, we shall go and speak to the house elves working at the school now." Winky replied and popped away. Dobby remained for a few seconds during which he hugged Harry's legs and then he too popped away.

"Harry don't you think you should ask the Headmistress first?" Emma asked.

"But Mum, we own the school." Hermione began before Harry interrupted her.

"She's right 'Mione, we should ask Minerva if we can use the school. It's only polite." And with that he walked over to the floo and threw some of the glittering powder into the fireplace. Once the emerald flames had stabilised Harry called out the address as stuck his head in the flames.

"Harry, how may I help you?" they heard the headmistress ask.

"Ma'am, Hermione and I have decided to have a proper wedding service next Tuesday and we would like to use Hogwarts for the ceremony. Naturally all the school is invited as well as a few others but we wanted to check if you were happy with that?"

"Oh Harry! That's a lovely idea and yes the school will be available for you that day. We can cancel what lessons we still have and it will be nice for the students after the memorial service as well as the funerals." Came the ecstatic reply.

Harry finished the 'call' and stood up. "All sorted; now all you need to do is to find a dress."

Hermione's eyes widened and her face paled. "Mum, we need to go shopping!" she almost yelled.

"Dear, it's gone nine at night. I don't think the shops will be open now." Emma told her now frantic daughter.

Harry grinned at Emma with a mischievous grin. "I'm off to bed, she's all yours Emma!" he said and ran out of the room with a laugh.

"Hermione, calm down. I'm sure with all the vaults you own, there will be a wedding gown fit for a princess in them. Why don't you and Emma go to your vaults tomorrow and have a look." Luna told her nearly hyper-ventilating friend.

Emma shot a grateful look at the Vampire and Hermione began to calm down. Suddenly she looked up towards the bed rooms and glared.

"Oh he's such a tease!" she growled and without warning stalked off to their room.

Emma looked at Luna for a second before the pair of them burst out laughing.

The following morning Emma and Hermione left the cottage for Gringotts and returned many hours later. Both were exhausted but very happy. All Hermione would tell Harry was that it was perfect and he would have to wait to see the dress.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Before either Harry or Hermione knew it, Saturday morning was upon them and they awoke with some trepidation for the day ahead.

"You going to be alright today love?" Harry asked Hermione as they lay in the large bed; both holding onto each other. They were both naked after spending the hours before they slept making love to each other.

"I think so Harry, so long as you are with me."

"Always and forever my love." Harry replied, kissing her on the lips gently with each word. Hermione smiled and grasped his hand tight. They both knew that the next few days would be tough but with support from each other, they would get through it. They silently dressed in sombre dark clothing and descended down to the kitchen for a light breakfast. Emma and Molly were sat at the table chatting quietly. Both were coming to the service along with the rest of the cottage's residence. When Dudley was invited he was unsure of how to feel about the event. On the one hand he was excited to be going to Hogwarts for the first time, but on the other he was aware of the seriousness of the event. Nevertheless he had vowed to stand with Lisa and support her on this difficult day.

As the immortal pair entered Emma looked up and smiled slightly at them. "Morning you two, coffee?" she asked.

Both teens nodded and soon were sat munching toast with the two older women.

"Harry, you got your speech prepared?" Molly asked. Although it wasn't a surprise, Harry was still worried about the speech he had been asked to give as Prince Pendragon.

"Mostly Molly, I'm gonna kinda wing it though. You know, speak from the heart." He replied.

Molly nodded and was about to reply when Bill, Fleur and Arthur walked in, all dressed in dark clothing. The grey dress that Fleur wore made the beautiful Veela look sad and ill, the colour not working well for her but she smiled at the other room's occupants and this brought her face to life. Arthur beamed at Hermione for a second before he also took on a more sober attitude. He had been over the moon about been asked to give Hermione away and had been seen practicing his speech many times. Pretty soon the room was full of everyone staying at the cottage and breakfast was been managed by Winky. The service was due to start at noon and nearly everyone was planning on getting to the school later on that morning but Harry and Hermione wanted to see everyone sooner. With a tearful goodbye the pair of teens faded from view only to reappear in the entrance way of the school.

"Where to first love?" Hermione asked.

"Infirmary I think, I want to speak to those still there." Harry replied in a low voice. As he spoke he could feel Cassie greeting him in his head and promising to inform the headmistress that they were there. They pair slowly walked the short distance to the Infirmary only to be greeted by the Headmistress and Cassie who were both stood outside.

"Prince and Princess Pendragon, thank you both for coming." The headmistress greeted them formally.

Harry shook his head and to the surprise of the older woman, embraced her and kissed her gently on the cheek. "None of that nonsense Minerva, its Harry and Hermione to you." He told her causing her to blush bright red at been kissed by a student. Harry grinned at her reaction before embracing Cassie. Cassie had no problem with showing affection and nosily kissed Harry on the lips, earning her a glare from Hermione. Cassie solved the situation by kissing Hermione as well just as hard. Harry laughed out loud and Hermione blushed just as red as the headmistress.

"Harry can you please come and see me before the service, I need to speak to you about your return next year if I may. I will take my leave of you now and take this giggling one with me." She said with affection in her voice as she almost had to drag Cassie with her. Harry and Hermione smiled as they both looked fondly at the retreating pair, giggling a little as Cassie blew a kiss to them both.

Turning away Harry opened the door to the infirmary and the good mood vanished as he observed the still full room of injured students and teachers. The room was quiet and only the sounds of people speaking in hushed tones that people use in hospitals could be heard. Madam Pomfrey was sat at her desk filling in reports and a number of additional healers were seeing to their patients. A few people looked up as Harry and Hermione entered and smiled or waved as they spotted him; that was until Lavender Brown spotted Harry.

"HARRY!" she yelled causing all the healers to jump and glare at her. Lavender was unrepentant and she clambered off her bed and limped painfully over to him, wincing with every step and walking in a very odd way. Harry walked over to meet her half way and she flung her arms around him, laughing and crying in equal measure. She saw Hermione walked over and pulled her into a group hug with them.

"Lav how are you?" Harry asked once he had managed to disentangle himself from the buxom blonde.

She grimaced and Harry helped her hobble back to her bed.

"Miss Brown! You know you should not be walking about yet." Madam Pomfrey yelled at the now wincing girl as she tried to climb back onto her bed. As Harry looked at his classmate, some of her injuries were clear to see. Her arm was badly scarred and there was a long scar running from the bottom of her ear and across her chest under the gown she was wearing. Luckily her face had escaped the worst of the mauling with only a few scratches on it.

"Worst than detention in here!" Lavender muttered before looking up and smiling at the Mediwitch stood at the foot of her bed and glaring at both her, Hermione and Harry.

"Sorry Madam Pomfrey, I was just excited to see my friends and the moment got the better of me. It won't happen again." She said contritely. Harry struggled to repress the snort of laughter earning an even longer glare from Madam Pomfrey before she also laughed. Walking around the bed she surprised Harry by taking him in her embrace.

"Lord Potter! It's good to see you well. Or is it Prince Pendragon now?" she asked with a grin. This caused Lavender and those listening to the conversation to gasp out loud. "Yes my liege, I heard what happened at the Ministry although the press for some reason haven't mentioned your elevation much." The Mediwitch smiled as she spoke. Harry grimaced at her and looked at the other rooms occupants.

"For you and everyone here it's Harry, Mr Potter or if you really need to be formal Lord Potter. All that royalty stuff is nonsense anyway. If was up to Mione and I we would have kept it a secret but we needed to use it to force the Wizengamot out and prompt the elections. We intend to dispense with the titles as soon as we can."

"Very well Mr Potter, please try not to disturb any more of my patients too much with your visits. I shall see you at the service later." She ordered, aware that she was bossing one of the most powerful people, politically and magically, around like just another one of her students. Harry nodded his head with a smile playing on his lips as he was aware of Lavender staring, not at him but at Hermione.

"FUCK ME Hermione, you got a prince?" she started before she became aware of just what she had said and to whom.

"Merlin, that makes you Princess...oh shit! I'm sorry my lady..." she began before Hermione stopped her by the simple act of hugging her. Lavender found it very difficult to be demure when she was been hugged.

"Lav, it's Hermione to you. How are you?" the brunette girl asked her classmate as soon as she let her go. Lavender tried to make herself more comfortable on her bed and smiled up at the pair as they wandlessly and silently conjured up two chairs for them to sit on.

"Well they are not sure if I am a werewolf or not, but they will only know after the next full moon. I have felt odd sensations since my attack. My vision is better and my sense of smell if off the chart. Remus has been in to see me and explained some of it. I will be taking the potion and locking myself in a cage at the next moon just to be safe but everyone is trying to stay hopeful." She said with a relatively happy voice.

"That's good, and the scarring is not too bad..." Harry began. That was before Lavender grimaced and with a wave of her wand closed the curtains around her bed and with a red face removed her gown leaving her sat in only her knickers. Both Harry and Hermione gasped at what they saw. The scar that ran from her ear also ran along her chest before it came to where her left breast once was. With tears in both teens eyes they could see that her entire breast had been ripped away, leaving a red and angry looking area of healing tissue. Her right breast was also scarred with what looked like claw marks running across it. There were also a run of claw marks across her belly and some of these extended further down. Most of her lower body under her knickers was bandaged up and what little could be seen seemed scared and sore.

"Oh Merlin!" Hermione breathed as the tears ran down her face. Lavender replaced her gown and the obvious glamour charm kicked back in as it appeared that she still had two breasts under the gown.

"The Werewolf tried to rape me; it ripped of my breast as you saw and clawed me down 'there'. There is a lot of damage and Madam Pomfrey doesn't know if I will still be able to have children, but hey; at least I am still alive. I mean I'm as ugly as sin and may never be able to get a man but I'm alive" She said with obviously forced jollity.

Harry and Hermione looked at the young girl with horror in their eyes as she spoke about her attack.

 _#Mione, we have to help her.#_ Harry thought.

 _#How love?#_

 _#Well you must know some healing charms from Rowena?#_ came the thought back.

 _#Well it would be impossible to create a new breast for her from nothing. I can create inanimate objects but living tissue needs the spark of life and only Gods can do that...but maybe?...#_

 _#What?#_

Hermione's face took on a concentrated look and she began to bite her bottom lip in concentration before she turned to Lavender who seemed unaware that the conversation had taken place.

"Lav, first you are not ugly and if a man will only look at you because of your breasts then he does not deserve you. That said I may be able to help you, but there would be a price involved." She said quietly. Lavender looked over at her with hope in her eyes.

"What price, I'll give you anything you want..."

"No Lav not that sort of price you daft twit! We don't want anything for our help. I think I can re-create a new breast for you, but as you may know it's impossible to create living tissue from nothing. When we transfigure inanimate objects into animals, they are not really alive, well not in the strict sense of the meaning. Sure they look alive and act alive but after a while, even the best transfigured animal will revert back to the original object. I cannot make new living tissue from nothing, well not that will live for a long time anyway; but I can use the existing tissue to create you a new breast. I can use the tissue from your remaining breast and make you a new one."

"That's brilliant but what is the price?" Lavender asked confused and excited at the same time.

"Well, you see I will have to use your existing breast tissue to make you a new one, that means you will have two breast made from the one, but both will be smaller than your old breast used to be. In fact they will be half the size you used to be."

"Oh I see." Lavender replied. Lavender had always been big up top and she was very proud of her assets; that said this would at least give her an opportunity to look more normal.

"Just how small are we talking?" she asked.

"What are you now, a D cup?"

"More like an E." Came the reply.

"Wow, ok then that will give me more to work with. I guess you would end up around a C cup or something."

"Will they work? You know if I can have kids?"

"Yeah, because I would be using breast tissue then I can share out the milk glands and such. I can also remove the scarring from your existing one. The other problem is one more of embarrassment for you. I can do this but I will need help... help from Harry. He will need to be here and I'm sorry but he will need to touch you for this to work."

At these words Harry looked up mortified at this news. He had been steadily going red during the entire conversation but this news bumped up his blush to meteoric standards. Seeing this actually helped Lavender come to a decision. If Harry had looked happy to be touching her then she would have felt uncomfortable about it, but the fact he was embarrassed showed that he was honourable.

Lavender shyly blushed and looked at Harry with a small smile.

"Where would he have to touch me?" she asked.

Hermione coughed and also blushed. "Lav I'm sorry but he would have to place his hands on your existing breast and I would have to place mine on where your new one would appear."

Harry coughed and spluttered but Hermione glared at him.

"Harry, this is to help Lavender, nothing else. It was your idea to help her." She grated.

"Sorry Mione, off course I'll help Lavender. What do we do love?" he asked Hermione.

"Well first we will need Poppy to monitor the process. Then all I need you to do is to place both hands on Lav's...er breast and concentrate on your power and allow me into your mind. I'll do the rest. Lav, are you sure you want me to do this? It will be irreversible once we start, but I'm sure it will work."

"Hermione, off course I want to do this, I don't want to be known as 'One-Tit-Lav' for the rest of my life." She said, the tears rising unbidden in her eyes. She lowered her head and stared at the covers on her bed before asking in a quiet voice.

"Can you do anything about...you know?" she asked in a whisper.

"Er..?" Hermione asked confused.

"My fanny! Can you fix my sodding fanny?" Lavender asked heatedly.

"Oh!" Hermione blushed. "I'm not sure what's the matter with it..." she began. Lavender looked her in the eyes before turning to Harry.

"Harry, would you mind for a second." She asked politely. Harry nodded furiously and left the bed bay with his face bright red. As he left he could hear the movement of covers and in his mind he heard Hermione gasp in shock. There was some more shuffling and then he 'heard' Hermione ask him to come back in to the bay in his head. He cautiously re-entered the bay and found the two girls looking at him with pensive looks; Hermione looking shocked and Lavender looking worried.

"What?" he asked, dreading the reply.

"Harry, we need to help her, what that bastard did to her...well it's horrible." Hermione whispered.

Harry sat down on the chair and put his face in his hands.

 _#Show me#_ he thought and winced as Hermione fed him images of what the werewolf had done to Lavender's vagina. He had nearly ripped through her with his claws and caused massive amounts of internal damage to the poor girl. Poppy had been able to stop the bleeding and repair some of the damage but it seemed that the werewolf had also cursed the girl so the tissue was resisting normal healing charm. As things stood; even if her reproductive organs were undamaged, she would be unable to have children, or even have a normal sex life. Harry blanched and looked at them both with horror filled eyes. That some...thing would do that to another sentient being saddened him beyond measure. Despite his embarrassment, he knew that Hermione could help her and that she needed him to help her do this. Not trusting himself to speak, he just nodded once.

Lavender let out an explosive breath and gasped out her thanks to Harry. She knew that despite everything that had happened to Harry, he was still very shy around most women and that this would not be easy for him.

"Like I said we will need Poppy in her to monitor things and to make sure that the results are good." Hermione said as she left the bay to find the Mediwitch.

"Thank you Harry, you know that if Hermione hadn't bagged you, I would have pursued you don't you?" she asked in a plaintive way.

Harry looked at her in surprise, "I thought you and Ron...well the Ron we knew..?"

"Only because I knew Hermione was into you." Lavender replied.

"Really? How come we didn't know it until recently?"

"Oh Please! That girl has been so yours since the first day you met. Everyone could see it, well everyone except you two! You do know she loves you with everything she has don't you?"

Harry smiled and nodded with a shy grin forming across his face. Suddenly he felt close to the bubbly blonde.

"Yeah, I know! Just as much as I do her. Say Lav, how would you like to be a bridesmaid at our formal wedding this Tuesday?" he asked, aware that he could feel Hermione's approval of the request through their bond.

"Wow! Are you sure? Wont Hermione mind you asking me?" Lavender asked.

Harry grinned at her, "No, she already knows I asked and she approves. Mione and I are fully bonded and we know what the other is thinking and feeling all the time."

Lavender gawped at him and swallowed deeply. To be so connected to another person was so rare. As she stared she became aware that Hermione was back with Madam Pomfrey in tow.

"So Miss Brown, Princess Pendragon has explained what she has in mind and what the process will entail." As she said this she briefly glanced over at Harry who blushed even more. "Are you happy to try the procedure?"

"Hell yeah, if it only half works then I'd be better off than now." She replied.

"Very well, Hermione it's up to you." Poppy said and moved the stand in the corner of the bay. Hermione nodded and walked over the Lavender. She held her hand briefly and then spoke.

"Lav, you will need to be naked for this. We will sort out your breast and then try to help with the other. I'm sorry but it may hurt a little and we cannot give you any pain relief until after the procedure as the potion may interfere with the magic."

Lavender nodded and Hermione helped the girl remove the gown, exposing her damaged chest once more. Hermione then gently removed the bandages from her lower body exposing the extensive damage done to her vagina. Harry gasped and paled as he saw the wounds that the werewolf had inflicted on Lavender and the sight of this made him more determined to help.

"Harry, place both of hands on Lavender and concentrate on your magic. I will do the rest." Hermione told him. Harry walked over to the bed and with an apologetic smile, he placed both of his hands on Lavenders large but damaged breast. Lavender gave a little scream as he touched her causing Harry to jump backwards as if scalded. Lavender looked amused for a second.

"Sorry Harry, but you have cold hands!" she muttered causing everyone to relax a little. Harry apologised and rubbed his hands together to try to warm them a little before he once more placed his hands over Lavender. Hermione moved to place her hands over the scarred section of her chest and closed her eyes and Harry could feel her draw in her magic. Watching the sweat break out of her forehead he fully opened the link between them to allow her to use his magic as well.

Hermione slowly began an incantation that no one had heard before.

" _C_ _um_ _sanare_ _mulieris huius_ _magicae_ _,_ _cum_ _animo_ _suo_ _toto_ _."_

Lavender gasped in pain as both her and Harry could see the flesh beneath his hands begin to glow and then the flesh seemed to turn to liquid as half of it 'ran' across her chest and under Hermione's hands. The remainder felt like liquid jelly in Harrys hand as he could feel it morph and re-shape itself. Lavender was grimacing in pain as her body reformed itself and she could see Hermione's hands raise up as her new breast formed under them. She suddenly screamed in pain as her new nipple was formed and then suddenly it was all done. Hermione opened her eyes and nodded before gently removing her hands from Lavenders new smaller but perfectly formed breast.

"Er Harry, you can let go now." Hermione told him. With a start Harry quickly removed his hands and allowed Lavender to see for the first time her new 'assets' Her eyes widened as she saw two perfectly formed breasts with absolutely no scars on either. They were quite perky and seemed to be a perfect 'C' cup as she jiggled her chest from side to side with a wide grin on her face. Before she could say anything Hermione moved her hands down and placed them on her pelvic area.

"Harry, put your hands on mine and concentrate. This is going to be even harder." Hermione said in a tired voice.

Harry complied; glad that he only had to place his hands on Hermione's this time. Hermione once more closed her eyes and concentrated. She repeated the incantation and Harry felt the magic suddenly drain out of him as the process began to work. Lavender screamed in agony as her tissues, skin and muscles reworked themselves. The sweat was pouring off Hermione and she began to sway as she worked. Harry dug deep and sent wave after wave of magic to his wife in aid her in the process. He distantly heard Poppy gasp and she held Lavenders hand before the darkness overtook him and he knew no more.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry slowly woke and found himself lying in a bed. As his faculties kicked in he realised that he knew this bed. With a sense of increasing dread he slowly opened his eyes to see Poppy Pomfrey smiling down at him and he knew at that moment he was in HIS bed in the hospital wing. With a groan he asked the inevitable question.

"How long?"

"This time, only ten minutes. You passed out from magical exhaustion just before Hermione did the same, but she managed to complete the procedure and Lavender is resting now."

"Where's Mione?" he asked.

"Sleeping in the next bed Harry, she will be fine...I mean what the hell can hurt you two? She should be waking soon..."

"Already awake! You okay Harry?" came a familiar voice.

Harry slowly sat up and grimaced as a wave of dizziness came over him, that quickly passed. He swung his legs over the bed and gently stood up. Waling the short distance to the next bed he took Hermione's hand and both gasped as their magic quickly recharged itself. Hermione smiled at him briefly before she also stood and the two quickly embraced.

"Did it work?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded and they both walked over to Lavenders bed, who looked up to see the pair.

"Harry, Hermione I can't thank either of you two enough. You have given me my future back and I will be eternally grateful." She said with tears in her eyes. She was now back in her gown, minus the glamour charms.

"They are smaller than before but it's only now that I realise how heavy my old ones were. It feels as if a great weight has been lifted from my back. And...well and my fanny feels great... if you know what I mean." She said without any embarrassment.

"It's a pleasure Lavender, we were happy to help our fourth bridesmaid and friend. However there is some bad news I'm afraid. When I was treating you I could sense something. I really don't know how to tell you this but..."

"I'm a werewolf?" Lavender asked.

Hermione slowly nodded, unsure on what to say.

"I think I already knew. Don't worry about it too much, if nothing else it means I had better start liking gold more than silver and I'm good at potions. Who know I may even come up with a cure." She said, even this news wasn't going to damped her happiness.

"Lav, when we have the new government in place, werewolf will be allowed the same rights as everyone else provided they take their Wolfsbane, so this want hinder you in anyway. I will tell Remus if that's okay and he can talk to you about what to expect. Since werewolf's have always been shunned in the past, there has been little work done on a cure but I expect that to change pretty soon." Harry told her.

"Harry, Hermione please don't fret, thanks to your help at least I am whole. So what if once a month I will turn into a raging, angry and violent beast...and then later in the month I will turn into a werewolf." She said with a silly grin. Everyone stopped and looked at the blonde in astonishment.

It was Poppy who went first, the normally strict and serious Mediwitch looked at the blonde girl with an amazed look before she snorted out a laugh. This soon set Harry and Hermione off, followed by Lavender as they all laughed like they had never done before. The rest of the infirmary looked at the curtained off bay with amazement as they heard the four laughing. Finally they managed to regain some dignity and Lavender eventually managed to speak.

"Harry I need another favour. I know I have no right to ask this of you both but I think she really needs your help."

"Who Lav?" Harry asked.

Lavender sighed, all signs of jollity now gone. "It's Parvati, ever since she lost Padma she has been really depressed, I mean really depressed and I'm worried about her. I think she may do something silly and hurt herself. Even when she comes to see me, she cannot stop crying and I think I saw marks on her wrists this morning. Please you have to help her before she tries ... before she tries to kill herself." She finished in an anguished voice.

Both immortals looked concerned and Hermione went to comfort the girl whilst Harry spoke to Poppy.

"Is she right, do you think Parvati is potentially suicidal?" he asked.

Poppy looked anguished. "My Liege, my oath forbids me to speak about a patient's medical condition without their permission and Miss Patil has asked me to keep our conversations confidential. That said speaking as a friend; I would value you speaking to her."

Harry nodded as he read between the lines of the mediwitch's words. "Cassie! Where is Parvati Patil?"

Cassie replied in his head, _#My lord, she is on her way to the Astronomy tower, she is very distressed and is crying.#_

"Shit shit shit! Hermione stay with Lavender will you." Harry snapped and immediately vanished from view.

"Oh no! Pav what have you done?" Lavender wailed with Poppy and Hermione trying in vain to comfort the girl.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Parvati Patil ran blindly up the stairs to the top of the Astronomy tower, her tears blurring her vision and her sobs audible if anyone has been there to listen. She had written her notes, apologising to her parents, her friends and also a special one for Lavender. However she had reached the end of her tether and could not stand the loss of her twin any more. No one, not even her best friend could grasp what it meant to be a twin. Even though they were in separate houses at school, they were twins and that was all that mattered. If asked she would have always been able to point in the direction her twin was; her internal compass had Padma as its north. But now she had no north, it had been cruelly ripped away and Parvati was lost without her. She had tried, Merlin knows she had tried but she wasn't strong enough. She burst out of the door slowly walked to the edge of the tower. With the tears still blurring her vision she slowly climbed up onto the wall and looked out over the sunlit grounds of the last place she thought she would ever see. It was a beautiful morning with the winter sun casting long shadows on everything. Slowly she began to lean forward when she heard the approach of someone causing her to freeze to the spot.

"Go away! This has nothing to do with you!" she yelled unsure as to who was with her, but that was when she heard the voice that she had been dreaming about since she was eleven.

"Is this what you think Padma would want from you?" Harry asked in a gentle voice.

Parvati cried even more. "It hurts so much Harry, she was my everything, it feels like part of my soul is missing and I cannot stand it any longer; I have to be whole again." As she spoke she let go with both hands and stood on the wall facing the drop. Harry knew that this moment was the critical moment. He also knew that he could stop her from jumping in a heartbeat and magically levitate her to safety but that wasn't the point. Even if he stopped her from falling, once she decided to jump she was lost. Once her mind was made up to fall then even if she didn't die that day physically; he knew that her soul would die and if he was to save her he had to make her not want to jump in the first place so he asked the question again.

"Is this was you think Padma would want you to do? To throw your life away instead of to live it? I don't profess to know how you feel Parvati, I have never had a twin but I do have Hermione. If I was to lose her and if I survived the experience then I guess I would feel as you feel now, but I also know how much 'Mione would be pissed at me when we met in the next adventure. You've seen Hermione pissed and that's not something I want to witness for eternity. I can't say I knew Padma well but what I do know is she will be as pissed with you if you do this as Mione would be with me. She would want you live a full and happy life, to do the things she cannot do, to see that thing she cannot; to love the men or women she cannot. You owe it to her to live, you have friends and family who love you; we have just come from seeing Lavender and she is very worried about you, she loves you very much, you are her best friend and she want to share her good news with you."

"G-g-good news?" Parvati asked despite herself.

"Yeah, Mione and I helped her a bit and now she is whole again, but she will need your help in the future. You see she IS a werewolf and she will need you to survive this."

"Oh Lav!" was all she said, but she did place one of her hands back on the wall she was stood near.

"Parvati, I cannot tell you it will be easy because it won't be. I cannot tell you that there will be no dark days because we both know that there will be, but there will be good days as well and all I know after I lost Sirius is that eventually the number of good days begin to outnumber the dark ones. It takes time and effort but you can live a good life; live a good life in honour of the bravery and sacrifice that Padma made." He told her. Parvati stood very still as she heard his words, she looked out over the school and to the rebuilding of the village in the distance. She wasn't sure but she almost heard the words in her head.

" _Pav, live for me please. I don't want you to do this – I love you and want you to live; live for me and live for you."_

"Pad?" she whispered and before Harry knew it he had his hands full of crying, grieving, messed up but alive girl.

"Thank you Harry!" was he heard her say as she cried. Knowing they would be there, he looked over to the doorway to see a crying Hermione and Lavender Brown as they saw Harry save another soul.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter Thirty Five – 'Saying Goodbye is the hardest'**

Harry was pacing nervously in the small room that both he and Hermione were occupying. In the few hours since he had saved Parvati and they had both helped Lavender, they had also helped a number of other injured or hurt students. However despite their desire, not everyone could be helped; Fred Weasley was one that was beyond their skill. As Hermione had stated with Lavender, she could not create living tissue from nothing and as Fred had both legs missing, she had nothing to work with. They were however able to help with his scaring and 'ghost' pain much to his relief. The medics were happier as now they could proceed to help him with magical prosthetic legs that would move at the joints in a similar way to real legs and could be controlled by his brain when magically connected. Fred had great fun when one of the new legs was temporarily connected to his thoughts for testing. The leg was placed on the ground and Fred was able to move it by just thinking. He had great fun by making it kick George every time he turned away from him. Despite the bruises, George thought it was one of the funniest things he had seen for a long while.

However as much as Harry enjoyed spending time with the two red-heads, time was against them and thus the two immortals soon found themselves dressed in their best robes, golden circlets firmly in place and awaiting the arrival of Minerva and Kingsley in a small anteroom to the Great Hall.

"How much longer 'Mione?" Harry asked for the fifth time.

"Five minutes less than the last time you asked me Harry. For Merlin's sake sit down!" she grumped. Truth was she as just as nervous as Harry, despite the fact she didn't have to make a speech. She guessed she was picking up on Harry's nervousness through their bond and it was making her irritable, that and despite the fact she was immortal, mother nature had paid a call and her hormones were up the spout.

Harry sat with an irritated sigh and glared around the room for a few moments before he was back on his feet pacing the room again. Knowing that he sounded like a whiny child asking if they were nearly there yet, he couldn't help himself but to ask the question again.

"How much longer..." he began just as the door opened and the headmistress and the acting Minister quietly entered accompanied by Cassie.

"Thank Merlin!" Harry muttered before walking over to the trio.

"Kingsley!" he began, but stopped as Kingsley fell to one knee with his head bowed.

"What?" Harry stuttered.

"My Liege! I am at your command." Kingsley said in his deep voice. Harry looked confused until Cassie pointed to her head and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Crap! Kingsley, you know I don't take any notice of that rubbish. I have to wear the sodding thing as it's expected but come on, on your feet big guy." He said hauling the large man to his feet as he spoke. Kingsley grinned at him and began to laugh. Realising he had been pranked Harry also began to laugh.

"You had me worried there Shack." He told him as he motioned for the three to sit with them. However none of them took the offered seats.

"Harry, it's time." Professor McGonagall stated. Harry looked at her for a moment and then sighed and nodded his head. He turned to take Hermione's hand and followed the trio out of the room and into the Great Hall beyond. The room had been transformed; gone were the four long tables that normally graced the room and instead were two wide rows of chairs with a wide aisle in the centre of them. Black flags replaced the usual house colours and were flying at half mast on each pillar that ran the length of the room. The ceiling was showing the outside as usual, but today the sky was clear and a deep blue with just a few whispery clouds in the sky; a fitting day for the proceedings Harry thought. As he entered the hall he saw that it was nearly full, students and parents along with friends all stood as they saw the small party enter the hall. Many were crying silently; many were holding each other as they thought about their missing loved ones, but everyone stood with a proud dignity that befitted the solemn occasion. As Harry slowly walked the long walk to the raised stage at the end of the room he saw that perched on stands at the front of the audience were life size pictures of everyone lost in the battle; Hagrid's and Grawp's dwarfing the rest, but all were present. These were not moving images; that was considered to be too crass, but still images showing the person at their very best. Colin was stood holding his camera and smiling happily; Seamus was shown at home with a sneaky pint of Guinness in his hand; Charity Burbage was shown at her graduation day, a proud smile on her face as Albus Dumbledore shook her hand. As well as the pictures of those who died on that fateful day, there were also others – Xeno Lovegood in all his multicoloured finery, Augusta Longbottom with her fierce Vulture hat in place, but also a proud smile present, Percy Weasley smiling as he started his first day at the Ministry and finally Dan Granger stood with an apron on as he cooked on a barbeque at home in Australia. There were many images displayed...too many. Harry felt Hermione stiffen as she saw the image of her father and then as she spotted her mother stood in the front row of the room. Molly and Arthur along with Bill, Fleur Ginny and Neville arm in arm, and Luna were stood with her. Behind them were the rest of the cottage's residents, Dudley and Lisa along with Remus and Tonks; Baby Teddy is her arms. In the rows behind were many of Harry friends and fellow students; Lavender was stood with Parvati in her arms as she beautiful Indian witch cried for the loss of her twin. Fred and George along with Dean were close by along with Susan and Hannah. All of them smiled and nodded to Harry and Hermione as they slowly walked to the chairs placed on the stage. In the centre two larger chairs were sat and it was on these that Harry and Hermione finally sat. As they looked out they could see many people looking at them with slightly confused looks. Although some knew what the golden circlets signified many were still unaware of the pair's true status.

Once they sat, the rest of the room took their chairs, all except Kingsley who walked to the lectern that had been placed on the stage. He stood for a long moment looking out at the audience in front of him and then he glanced at the images of the fallen before he cleared his throat.

"Lords, Ladies, Wizards, Witches...my Friends... today we are together to remember - to remember those that fell in order for us to be free. As your interim Minister I have been asked to open the proceedings today and it is an honour to do so. As we all know last week there was a massive battle that took place in this centre of learning. In a school occupied by children and teachers a mad man brought the realities of war here. This creature did not care that children were here, he did not care that many would be in danger of been hurt or killed and he expected an easy victory. He and his followers were to be disappointed for the ordinary became the extra-ordinary; the frightened became the brave and the weak became the strong. The so called Lord Voldemort finally realised that ordinary witches and wizards when they work together are strong, they are resolute and they are brave. Lord Voldemort believed that only the pure of blood were worthy of magic, only those born to the old families were worthy to live. Curious behaviour for a one not of the pure. My friends, Voldemort was not a pureblood. His real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle and his father was a muggle!"

At this there was a surprised gasp from the gathered masses that soon turned to outrage. They had suffered so much, feared so much from a fraud.

"This is not the time for anger, not the time for recriminations or political speeches. This is a time to remember those brave witches, wizards and in one case a muggle who fought for what they believed in, they fought for what was right and fair. They paid with the ultimate price they could, their lives. We are here today to honour their sacrifice, to honour their bravery, but most of all to honour their lives."

He paused for a short while before continuing.

"Many fought that day, and many in the days leading up to the events here. Many were injured; some more than others." As this he nodded his head at Lavender and Fred who both nodded back. "We owe so much to those that fought in order to allow two very special people the time they needed to defeat Voldemort. Those two people are here today and I know they will hate me for saying this but they are both heroes in the truest sense of the word. They are also as it turns out both very important to the future of our world. Lord and Lady Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Ravenclaw -Slytherin-Emrys-Potter, or as I like to call them; Harry and Hermione are two of the bravest and powerful people I know and they both were instrumental in the downfall of Voldemort. Neither has spoken about the events of their battle with that monster and I guess that is their right. I also know neither of them are happy with you knowing this new information but they are also known by two new titles. It turns out that Harry is directly related to the Pendragon line and as Hermione is his wife they are also known as Prince and Princess Pendragon. Harry has forfeited the right to the magical throne as he says that the world does not need a single ruler but it needs an elected government, but we are still pleased to have them here today. I am honoured to ask Prince Pendragon to stand and to say a few words to us."

There was a stunned silence at Kingsley's words before a dignified applause greeted Harry as he stood the light glinting of the golden circlet on his head.

"Friends, despite Minister Shacklebolt's introduction, I prefer to be known as just Harry. A few days ago evil was brought to this school and death and destruction came with it. Tom Riddle thought he should rule the Wizarding world and he didn't care who got in his way. He thought that this school and its students would be an easy target and that the death and destruction of the school would allow him to kill me and rule the world. He was wrong! This school stood up for what was right and he paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. For this we paid a heavy price, twenty three of our finest lost that day and more in the run up to the fight, including my new father-in-law. As you sit here with the images of your loved ones surrounding you, it's easy to give in to the loss and despair. But if you do then your loved one will have died in vain. You need to live your life as full as you can, as honourable as you can in memory of their sacrifice. Voldemort and his Death Eaters are gone, but the reasons they existed are still all around us. Next week we are holding the first free elections in our world in a bid to create a world in which the bigotry and hatred that created Voldemort cannot survive. This is the reason why I fought; this is the reason why your loved ones fought- So we can have a fair and just world in which to live and to love. They died so we can have this opportunity and I for one will be forever grateful for their bravery and their sacrifice." Harry slowly sat and Hermione grasped his hand. Kingsley once more stood and walked to the podium.

"As interim Minister I have taken t the step to award all those fallen with the Order of Merlin – first class and the ceremony will take place here in a month's time. We will now read out the names of the fallen." He said in a sombre voice.

As he moved to one side, a number of the students made their way slowly to the front of the hall. Each carried their wand and one by one they mounted the raised platform at the front of the room. The first, a young looking wizards dressed in Hufflepuff robes walked to the podium and quietly but firmly said the name of his friend.

"Morgana Smith!"

As he spoke he waved his wand and a white candle appeared in front of the picture of Morgana and magically lit itself. He moved off and was replaced by the next student who repeated the procedure, this carried on for a while.

"Ernie Macmillan!"

"Romilda Vane!"

"Harmonia Davies."

"Charlie Parkinson!"

"Albert Jenkins!"

"Caradoc Pagan."

"Geoffrey Hooper."

Cho Chang walked forward, not strictly a student anymore, nevertheless she and a few of her friends had been staying at Hogwarts and had fought in the battle. Cho walked up with tears in her eyes as she mounted the step for the podium.

"Marietta Edgecombe!" she whispered and lit Marietta's candle, before moving off. The slow and sombre procession continued.

"Euan Abercrombie."

"James Pearson."

"Leonie Russell."

"Emily Jameson."

"Zoe Palmer."

"Michael Corner."

"Terry Boot."

"Francis Blackmoor."

Little Dennis Creevey walked up to the podium and said "Colin Creevey." After he waved his wand and created the lit candle, he walked over to the photo and placed silently Colin's beloved camera in front of the picture before moving back to his waiting tearful parents.

Dean Thomas now walked on and tearfully recited his best friend's name;

"Seamus Finnigan, have a pint on me buddy!"

He was followed by Professor McGonagall who said her friend and colleagues name with a quiet dignity.

"Professor Charity Burbage."

Lavender now helped onto the podium the very distraught Parvati Patil who desperately tried to recite her twins name but couldn't manage the words so Lavender said Padma's name before helping Parvati off the stage into the waiting arms of her parents.

Neville followed to say his grandmother's name and Ginny followed to say her brothers Percy's name before the pair left in each other's arms.

Luna walked on to repeat her father's name and then Hermione came to say "Daniel Granger", before leaving to join the others.

Finally Harry walked on and stood for a while looking at the now glowing photographs of the fallen.

"I light this candle for my first ever friend and his half brother. Rubeus Hagrid and Grawp."

Waving his hand he lit the candle, bowed his head to all the images of the fallen before joining Hermione.

Kingsley took his place and thanked all the students and professors for their contributions.

"Can we all stand for two minutes of silence whilst we remember those that gave us our freedom?"

Everyone stood and bowed their head whilst they remembered; the only sound was that of dignified crying and the gurgling of young baby Teddy. At the end of the two minutes a haunting piece of music was heard as the assembled parents and friends left the hall for the wake that was to be held on the courtyard outside.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

By the end of the day Harry was humbled and exhausted mentally, exhausted due to the emotions that the day wrought and humbled by the fact that none of the parents, friends or siblings of the dead blamed him in anyway. In fact many of them thanked both him and Hermione for ridding the world of Voldemort and were proud that their dead could fight for the cause. They spoke to every one of the parents of the children and they all were very pleased to see both him and Hermione. Most were burying their loved ones in a number of private burials the following day and over half had invited both Harry and Hermione to attend. The two teens promised to attend as many as they could, they both felt it was the least they could do. Finally they managed to find some time away from the crowds and found themselves along with Luna, Ginny, Neville and Lavender in the Gryffindor common room. Parvati was spending the evening with her parents and her immediate family.

"So what are your plans for next year?" Lavender asked everyone once they made themselves comfortable.

Ginny smiled and clasped Neville's hand to hers, her promise ring glinting in the dim light. "Well I'll be back here for my NEWTS and Neville will be coming with me. The Headmistress offered the chance for anyone to repeat the year to anyone in any year who wanted to. Everyone will still move up a year but for the first time ever there will be eighth years at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, I want to be a teacher, you know Herbology when I'm older and Professor Sprout has offered to help me." Neville said. "Plus I get to be near my fiancée all year." He said with a shy smile.

"Longer than you may think Nev. Hogwarts will be evolving and one of the new features apart from better teachers and more subjects, including muggle ones such as maths, English and science; will be the opening of a post graduate collage on the grounds for those wanting to study further for a career, either in the magical world or even the muggle one." Hermione told them all with a happy smile. Despite all her power and knowledge she still loved the art of learning.

"Wow that's a great idea, what sort of subjects Hermione?" Neville asked.

Harry and Hermione both grinned at their friend. They had suggested the idea to Minerva a few days ago and she had thought it a great idea. Harry and Hermione would fund the construction as well as help with the hiring of teachers.

"Well it's still early days, but so far we are planning courses for Healers, law enforcement, potions, and off course Herbology. We are looking at courses on magical as well as muggle law and a few others as well."

"Count me in Hermione." Neville said excited to be given this opportunity.

"Will you be able to fill it?" Lavender asked. "I mean there's not that many of us that can take advantage of it?" she pressed.

"True, that's why we are accepting students from abroad as well. So far we have spoken to Madam Maxime as well as the new headmaster of Durmstrang. Neither of those countries have a post graduate school so they are both keen. America does have such schools but we are still hoping to attract some students from over the pond and Australia and New Zealand have expressed interest as well. Hermione knows a language charm that Rowena developed and this will be one of the first things taught so everyone can speak to each other." Harry told everyone.

"What about you Lavender?" Ginny asked the blonde.

Lavender smiled shyly. "I know everyone thinks I'm a blonde bimbo, but my grades are very good. Recent events have made me look at my life in stark detail and what with my impending ...how did Remus put it? 'Furry little problem' I have developed an interest in potions and medicine so I would like to be maybe a Healer, but one that tries to develops new cures for people...starting with werewolves."

"Good for you Lav, I know you would be brilliant at it." Hermione told her earning a dazzling smile from the blonde.

"Luna?" Ginny asked.

Luna looked up surprised and then she looked incredibly sad for a split second. Most of the people sat missed it except for Harry who was looking directly at the small vampire. Her violet eyes were pained for a second before she schooled her features into a false happy look.

"Oh I don't know. I'll see where the Wrackspurts take me." She said airily. Most smiled at her but Hermione looked at her with an odd look before she turned to catch Harry's gaze. Harry discreetly nodded at her, making her know he was aware something was wrong with the blonde.

 _#We'll ask her later love.#_ he thought to his wife. Hermione nodded back slightly before turning back to the group.

"And what about you two?" Lavender asked, knowing that what one did the other would also do.

"We are coming back for the final year, then who know? We shall have to see." Harry told her.

"Yes, the headmistress offered up the head boy and girl position, but we felt it only right to turn it down. I believe she will be asking another pair very shortly." Hermione added.

"You turned it down? Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger...sorry Potter." Neville joked.

Hermione smiled at her friend. "We both felt it unfair; we have enough titles and felt that others were more deserving of those positions. We will have plenty of other commitments so we won't be in school all the time and felt that the student population needed full time Heads, what with everything that has happened. We want to be just Harry and Hermione this next year for as much as possible. The only consent to our new positions is that we will be moving into private quarters." Hermione said with a smile.

"So who will be the two heads?" Ginny asked intrigued.

Harry laughed and shook his head. "Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise Gin." He told her causing Ginny to pout at him before she also burst out laughing. Harry thought that it was good to laugh, they had little to laugh about in the last few days and it felt good just be with his friends and chatting. Finally after a few hours of talk they broke up. Ginny, Lav and Neville were staying at Hogwarts whilst Harry and Hermione silently vanished from the room; taking Luna with them to return to the cottage. Once back they tried to find out what was bothering Luna but all she would say was that the work wasn't done yet and they still had things to do. Eventually tiredness overtook them and after leaving a pint of blood for Luna's supper they all went to bed aware that the following day was going to be hard on everyone.

Once they left for bed Luna sat alone in the kitchen with her supper. As she drank her tears fell from her face as she thought about what was –what HAD to come.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Hard wasn't the word Harry finally used for the Sunday. 'Bloody soul destroying' was closer to the description he finally came up with. 'Painful, sad, upsetting – downright fucking awful' were also adjectives he applied to the day.

It had started pleasantly enough with a love-making session with Hermione followed by a sensual shower with her. They had then descended to the kitchen for a light breakfast. Molly Weasley was there along with Emma. The two were inseparable these days and Hermione was glad that her mother wasn't spending all her time alone. Emma was showing now and was positively glowing with her pregnancy. Remus and Tonks were there, Tonks feeding baby Teddy his breakfast. Harry wasn't embarrassed at all regarding Tonks's exposure; he still thought it was one of the most beautiful sights he had seen. After a light breakfast and pleasant conversation they both dressed in dark clothing along with dark silk robes complete with Merlin's crest on the lapels. Fitting the golden circlets to their heads and grabbing Luna from her breakfast of blood on cornflakes they magically teleported to the main entrance of the school. The first funeral was scheduled for nine that morning and would be taking place in the garden of remembrance that had been set up by the house elves. This was a large walled area that would contain the multiple graves along with a large stone pillar with the names of the fallen engraved on it. Flowers and shrubs would grace the area along with seats and pathways allowing people to come and sit with their loved ones or just to sit in peace in the future.

The funeral of Terry Boot was a sad affair; the only child of Mary and Robert Boot he was a pureblood of minor standing. Harry and Hermione stood at the back of the small gathering whilst the druid performing the service said his words. The funeral did not take long, most of what needed to be said had been said the day before, and it wasn't long before the coffin was magically lowered into the prepared whole in the ground accompanied by the cries of his mother. Robert Boot tried to console his grieving wife as he magically created a grave stone proclaiming to the world that his son laid there. With a sad nod to Harry and Hermione the party slowly moved away leaving the immortal pair to await the next funeral.

By the time it got to lunch time and after twelve similar funerals, both teens were a emotional wreck. Instead of going to lunch they both found themselves walking towards the lake hand in hand.

"Mione, I'm not sure I can stand much more of this. Why is everyone so nice to us, we got their kids killed and all they do is thank us?" Harry asked in a broken voice.

Hermione couldn't answer, she just sobbed into his shoulder. However unbeknown to both of them Cassie had been keeping an eye on her 'parents' and took this moment to let them see her.

"You DID NOT get them killed, if it wasn't for you two many-many more would have died. I know today is tough but quite frankly today is not about you two! The families of the fallen all expressed pride in what their children did, they know that without their children's help and sacrifice more would have died and they are grateful for you two been present at their most needful time. Believe it or not you both bring some sense of honour to their deaths, so stop feeling guilty and get out there and make them feel that tiny little bit better." She admonished the pair.

Hermione's head shot up and she wiped her eyes. Harry looked guilty for second before he squared his shoulders.

"Cassie, your right we are been right idiots. Thank you for pointing that out to us." He told her.

"Harry, Hermione I'm sorry to sound so harsh; you know I love you both very much. You just needed a kick up the bum. Today's crap! Everyone agrees but the families need this in order to move on with their lives. No one blames either of you. Hell! No one blames anyone except that fuckwit Voldemort. Now come here both of you." She said as she embraced the pair, pinching Harry bum as she did.

Harry grinned at her and the pair left to walk back to the garden with a renewed sense of purpose. That lasted all of the next few funerals and then they got to the ones that the pair knew better. Seamus's was difficult but that was nothing compared to Padma's and Colin's. This time not only were the family grieving but Harry and Hermione were much closer to the pair and this time they were not just there as onlookers but as friends. As Harry watched little Colin's small coffin been lowered into the ground he could feel the shakes from Hermione as she sobbed. Padma's was little better, the service was held in a traditional magical Indian way but both Harry and Hermione were stood holding Parvati upright as she cried her eyes out. At the end both of Padma's parents approached the pair.

"Lord Potter..." Mr Patil began

"Call me Harry please."

"... thank you... Harry my wife and I want to thank you for saving Parvati. She has told us of her despair and how she wanted to end her life and what you did to help her. As a twin myself and having lost my brother in the last war I understand how she felt. However as a father I thank you for allowing us to still have one of our beloved daughters. My family is in your debt; if there is anything we can do for you just ask." He said, his wife nodding in agreement.

"Mr Patil, there is no debt. There can be no debts between friends and I consider the Patil family friends to the Potter family. Parvati will always be welcome in my family and I know she wanted to be a lawyer before all of this. As you know we are opening a post-graduate school here and Parvati will be welcome if she still wants to pursue her goals. I know Padma would have wanted her to." He said kindly.

Parvati was crying on her mother's shoulder but upon hearing this she flung herself at Harry and sobbed on his instead. Harry embraced the girl and gently stroked her hair. Finally she looked up at him and smiled a sad smile.

"I would like that Harry, thank you for the offer. I know Padma would be happy with that, you do know she had a thing for you don't you; she would be so jealous right now." She quipped, showing the world that she would survive this loss and that she could function now.

"She was so mad with me that I was supposed to go with you for the Yule ball back in fourth year; she pleaded with me to swap and we did...you never knew that did you?" she grinned despite the tears rolling down her face as she remembered the night in question.

"Sorry I was a right git then... please come to our wedding, all of you. I owe you a dance Parvati." He told her.

Parvati looked at her parents before accepting. She gently embraced Hermione and as she kissed her cheek she whispered in her ear.

"Love him well for me and Pad, he's very special."

"I will...forever" Hermione whispered back.

Then came the time that Harry was dreading to most; Hagrid's funeral. This time most of the school had turned up for the funeral of the much loved gentle giant. Madam Maxime was sat at the front been consoled by Professor McGonagall as the service started whilst Fang was sat by the coffin with a soulful look on his face. Harry struggled to get his emotions under control as he sat and listened to the druid talk about Hagrid's life. Harry found himself thinking back to the first time he had met the half giant and how he had saved the young Harry from his relatives. Harry realised that he really did owe Hagrid a huge debt of thanks and he wished he had taken the time to tell the man how much he meant to him.

"He knew Harry, he always knew." Hermione whispered to him, obviously using their bond to read his thoughts. Harry, not trusting himself to speak, just nodded back and grasped her hand even tighter. However when the coffin was finally lowered into the ground and Fang let out a long mournful howl, the tears that had threatened so much throughout the day finally broke their damm and Harry wept. Not the tears of the 'guilty Harry' or the tears of the 'worried Harry' but the tears of a grieving Harry and his thoughts for a friend lost. This time he could feel Hermione supporting him, despite her own tears and for a few moments he let himself go and ball his eyes out. Funnily enough it made him feel slightly better, that was until after the service when Madam Maxime sought him out.

"He loved you very much Harry, you meant a lot to him. He asked me if anything was to happen to him to give you this." She said handing him an envelope. Nodding Harry took it from her and tried to reply.

"H-H-H-He meant a lot to me...I'm so sorry for your los..." he broke of unable to speak. Madam Maxime nodded and embraced him, nearly suffocating him in the process before walking to speak to some others.

Harry slowly opened the letter and allowed Hermione to read it with him.

' _My dearest Harry_

 _If you are reading this then I have fallen, hopefully doing summit brave but knowing me it could just have been summit daft. The day we first met was a sad day for me, you was so small when Sirius handed you to me and I regret not stopping him from going after Pettigrew. Dumbledore was a great man but he shouldna have left you with them great idiots Dursleys and that is another of my regrets. Seeing you on your eleventh burfday made me even madder, to see you so small and downtrodden but I was honoured to be the one to take you away and put you on the road to your great destiny. With young Hermione by your side I know you are destined for good things, she will see ya straight – you listen to that girl, she's got a good head on her shoulders. I hope you kicked old Riddle's arse and you are with her now – Hiya Hermione!...'_

"Hi Hagrid." Hermione whispered as they both read the rather rambling letter.

' _...Now don't cry for old Hagrid, I's had a good life and my only other regrets are not having kids of my own. But I have had you two and I think of yous as my own. I haven't much things on the world and that's the way it should be but I want you both to have something of mine. Hermione there is a small glass vase in my hut that my da gave me, I want you to have it, look after it for me and always keep a flower in it. Harry I want you to have my father's ring, it's in my drawer by me bed. It was always too small for me – me Dad wasn't a big man but I wants you to have it._

 _Harry can I also ask you to make sure that Fang is cared for, he's as daft as brush and a bloody coward but he's a good dog. Olympe been looking after him but she needs to go back to school soon and I donna want him to be alone. He will pine for me but I's know you own Hogwarts. Can you let him live in my old hut and make sure he's loved by all you kids. Please look after Grawp for me, he's a bit of handful but he's a good lad. If I see your parents Harry I'll make sure to tell them how good a kid you are._

 _That's all I gotta say now, it's time for Grawp's tea but look after yourselves._

 _Love Hagrid'_

"Oh Harry...Harry." Hermione wept. No one had been able to find any of Grawp's relatives and due to his immense size, his body had been cremated on a pyre. The ashes were to be interred in the ground next to his brothers.

Harry carefully folded up the letter and placed it in his robes before he led his grieving wife away, Fang following behind with his tail between his legs as he left his masters side for the last time.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty Six – Marriage**

It was early morning the following day when Harry was awoken by an odd noise at the window to his and Hermione's bedroom. They had got home late, emotionally wrought and exhausted by the day's events. They had just enough wherewithal's to remove their clothing and collapse into bed and a deep, dreamless sleep. As Harry tried to identify the noise he became aware that it was coming from a regal looking owl scratching on the window glass. With a sigh Harry clambered out of bed, totally unconcerned by his nakedness – after all the owl wasn't at all bothered. Opening the window the owl took the opportunity to hop inside and perch on the dresser that was near the window. It extended its leg and allowed Harry to remove the attached parchment. This owl was the first to attempt to deliver any post to the cottage since Harry had relaxed some of the protection charms on the property. Both Harry and Hermione felt that the complete hiding of the cottage was now not required and agreed to relax the wards slightly. Even so it was still one of the safest places on the planet, just a little more contactable. They had also agreed that they would travel to Potter Manor to see what state it was in and bring it 'back to life' as Hermione put it.

"Thank you." Harry muttered to the owl whilst summoning a piece of bacon from the fridge to his hand. The owl hooted its thanks and with a slight bob of its head jumped back to the window ledge and without a backward glance flew off into the forest that surrounded the cottage. Harry watched it fly off with something akin to envy on his face as he thought how nice it would be just to take flight and leave the world's problems behind. With a slight smile he realised that it was just a flight of fancy and looked down at the letter in his hand. It was addressed to 'Prince Pendragon' and was sealed with a wax seal bearing the mark of the Ministry embossed in it.

Harry quickly broke the seal and opened the letter to read its contents. It was from Kingsley asking both him and Hermione to meet with him later that morning. It appeared that the Aurors had found something that they needed his help with. There was an acknowledgment section at the bottom of the parchment that Harry tapped with his wand signifying his receipt and acceptance of the invitation.

"Making friends love?" Hermione's voice came from the bed.

Grinning Harry turned and smiled at the vision before him; Hermione was still laid in the bed her hair all mussed up, but she had the most loving expression that Harry had ever seen on her face as she looked at him.

"Yeah, he woke me up with his scratching; you look awesome by the way." He told her, his pleasure at seeing his naked wife becoming apparent to her eyes.

"What did it want?" she asked him with a grin.

"Kingsley wants to see us later this morning; apparently he needs our help with a couple of things."

"Did he say what?"

"Nah, apparently they have found something that he thinks we need to see, but didn't say what."

"Did he say when?" she asked, her look turning sultry.

"Yeah, eleven at the Ministry."

"Well that gives us plenty of time...come here husband." She growled

Harry didn't resist...many time.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

With a silent displacement of air, two people arrived in the foyer of the Ministry building, startling a few passing witches one of whom screamed in surprise. When she saw who it was that startled her she bowed and scurried away. Harry grimaced when he saw the witch's reaction and shook his head.

"Love, we need to get used to that reaction, it's going to happen a lot." Hermione told him as she noticed the grimace.

Harry sighed and nodded his head. "I know, but I don't need to like it." He replied.

Hermione nodded and hand in hand they walked the short distance to the lifts. They waited for a few seconds before entering a vacant lift and pressed the correct button for the administrative section. With a sudden lurch the lift set off, stopping at the next floor for a few other people who stared openly at the royal couple. Soon however they were able to escape as the lift arrived at the correct floor. Exiting the lift they made their way to the Ministers office. Sat at the desk was the Ministers personal assistant who looked up and smiled at the pair.

"My Lieges, he said to go straight in. Would either of you like tea, coffee?" she asked.

"No thank you just some cold water please." Harry replied after silently conferring with Hermione.

She nodded and indicated the door behind her. Harry and Hermione walked toward it and Harry knocked gently on it. They heard a deep voice asking them to enter and soon they were both being greeted by the interim Minister as well as Arthur Weasley.

"Harry, Hermione come in, have a seat." Kingsley boomed in his deep voice.

"Minister..." Harry began

"Ahha, not yet Harry." Kingsley corrected with a grin.

"...sorry! Acting Minister, you asked to see us?" Harry completed.

Kingsley's grin faded and he took on a more serious face.

"Yes, and neither thing is pleasant. First thing is there has been a lot of reports in the muggle news about attacks on entire families. Particularly nasty attacks where the victims are basically butchered and mutilated. Men, woman children and even babies are all attacked. Normally this would not come under our jurisdiction but when one of the families were Squibs I sent someone to check it out. There was a strong magical signature in the vicinity, a Dark signature."

"Let me guess - it's the creature isn't it? The one that was Ron?" Harry asked with dread.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is, and in the last attack he left a nasty message for you both." He replied handing them a dark red folder. Opening it they found it contained victim reports that made them both feel sick as well as a muggle photo of the interior wall of the house. Daubed on it in blood and entrails was a short message.

'I'm coming Harry!' was all it said.

Harry grimaced once more and his fist clenched in anger.

"Harry, we knew this was coming. We will deal with him." Hermione told him.

Harry got his temper under control and looked back at Kingsley and Arthur.

"Sorry Minister, we will deal with the creature as soon as we can. What was the other thing you wanted to talk to us about?" he asked trying to change the subject.

Harry, this a strange one. We found something and it's the damnedest thing. We have being clearing up after the fall of Voldemort and going through the Death Eaters houses. We spent a lot of time going through Malfoy manor as that was his headquarters and we found...someone. Someone that we felt you needed to know about."

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"You need to see it My Lady, we can take you there now if you want." He replied mysteriously.

Both teens curiosity was now peaked and they agreed to accompany the two politicians. They followed the two to the next room where Viktor and Gawain were waiting. Both men nodded to Harry, but Viktor politely kissed both of Hermione's cheeks in greeting. Hermione smiled warmly at her friend but before they had time to chat the portkey that Gawain was holding began to glow signifying its imminent activation. Everyone grabbed hold of the long piece of velvet cord that the new Head Auror held and within seconds they were all whisked away to...

...the main entrance hall in what was once a grand building. Now however it looked like a herd of elephants had been through it. Kingsley explained as they walked that when the Death Eaters were in residence, they seemed to have trashed the place when Lucius died, and then afterwards the Aurors had to dismantle the entire house to search for Dark items. It was when they were searching that they discovered the person.

"I must warn you, it's rather...grisly." he finished his explanation as they arrived at what looked like it was once a concealed door.

"You ready?" he asked. Both teens nodded and he opened the door to reveal what was once Voldemort's 'throne' room. Harry entered first and was followed by Hermione. They both gasped at what they saw. Hung on the wall was a near skeleton of a young man. What was most shocking was that the head was intact and they both nearly vomited when they recognised the head of their school nemesis, Draco Malfoy. His face was pale and his eyes closed, but the remains of his long blonde hair was still visible even if it was stained black with dried blood and worse. As Hermione looked closer she saw a fibrous network surrounding the skeleton and with a gasp she realised that they were nerves.

"What the hell?" Harry asked.

"It gets worse Harry." Kingsley replied. Harry was about to reply when Hermione screamed. Harry whipped around, his hand outstretched and glowing with a barely repressed spell when he too saw what had made Hermione scream. Draco's eyes were open looking widely around, his mouth opening and closing silently. His expression was one of extreme agony and suffering.

Hermione turned to the side and lost her breakfast and Harry very nearly followed her.

"How? Why?" he finally managed.

"We don't know, except to say it's very Dark magic. We tried to put him out of his misery but even the killing curse does nothing. He is aware and the nerves that surround his skeleton seem to be firing pain signals constantly to his brain. We wondered if you could help?" he finished.

Harry slowly walked over to the sad looking figure and looked Draco in the eye.

"Draco?" he asked.

Draco focused on Harry, his eyes leaking tears as he gazed at the man he had hated at school and now needed to end his torment.

'Potter!' he mouthed silently, his lack of lungs making it impossible for him to speak out loud. 'Did you win?' he mouthed – 'Is he dead?'

Harry nodded, "Yes Draco, he's dead. Him and all his Death Eaters are no more."

Draco looked at him for a while, his face looking almost happy at the news.

'Mother?' he asked.

"Alive and well, I gave her back her maiden name, her sister Andromeda forgave her."

'Thank you...help me? Please! Kill me...' he mouthed.

Harry nodded and closed his eyes for a second. Hermione came up to him and took his hand. Harry looked once more at the pitiful figure in front of him.

"Off course Draco. For what it's worth, I forgive you." He said quietly. Draco looked at him for a long while and finally mouthed.

'I'm sorry, both of you.'

Harry raised his hands and felt the power build up in him as Hermione placed her hands on his back.

"Goodbye Draco." He said and with a slight gasp the power shot out of his hands and struck the figure. Like with Thicknesse, the figure glowed and then silently turned to the constitute atoms that made it up and Draco Malfoy, last of the Malfoy's finally got his peace.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

It was the morning that Harry had been looking forward to and dreading in equal measure. Tuesday morning broke with clear skies and despite the time of year, it was quite warm. He woke to find an unfamiliar sight around him. At Hermione's insistence they had spent the night apart as was the tradition. Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Susan and Hannah as well as a much subdued Lavender had spent the night together; Parvati was spending time with her parents and grandparents who had just arrived from India, and Fleur and Tonks joined them for a brief while before returning home. Although he wasn't certain, he had heard talk of a muggle male strip club, as well as copious amounts of alcohol. Apparently both Molly and Emma were keen to come along, as he poked his head around the door to check on her, there was much giggling to be heard and he fled when a pair of lacy knickers were thrown his way, his face flaming.

By comparison Harry had spent the evening with Neville, Dean and the twins; who were much quieter than normal and Arthur. They went to the Leaky Cauldron and spent the evening talking about the recent events as well as having the odd drink, well maybe more than the odd drink. Despite his fame and fortune Harry did not feel the urge to splash out on a lavish party or a wild evening, although he did have a vague memory of some singing. He spent the night at Neville's temporary home, one of the Longbottom's holiday homes in the Lake District and this was the unfamiliar room he found himself in currently. He slowly stood and looked around the room. On a small table was a small box that contained two rings made from pure Mithrill and interwoven with gold. He had found them in his vaults a few days ago and as soon as he touched them he felt their power flow though him. Next to the small velvet wrapped box was a small piece of parchment that explained about the rings; apparently they had originally been forged eons ago by an unknown and ancient creature. He had made many rings, and most were as corrupted as he was, but a few were pure. Most had been lost to time but the two that Harry owned were the most pure of all, having once belonged to the ancient race of elves of old. They were supposed to contain the knowledge and wisdom of the once proud race and the last to wear them were Merlin and his wife.

Harry looked at the dress robes that Dobby had left out for him with a thrill of anticipation. They were of finest silk and had the Pendragon seal on them. Atop the pile was the golden crown he was expected to wear, along with the newly remade Sword of Pendragon; a present from Ragnok and forged by himself. Whist not as strong as the Sword of Gryffindor nor as magical as Excalibur, it still had power; a power that Ragnok assured him would grow as time passed. With a grimace Harry waved his hand and dressed himself in his normal clothes, the robes could wait for a while.

He was aware that he had drunk a lot the night before but just willed the poisons away from his system. Upon arriving downstairs he soon found that the others were not able to perform this trick, judging from the groans that both Arthur and Neville were making. With a slight laugh that earned him glares from both, he conjured hangover potions for them both and with Dobby's help started making breakfast. It was a recovering Neville that realised that his breakfast had just been made and served by the most powerful wizard in the world as well as one who was entitled to wear the crown of Pendragon that really sobered him up.

"Er Morning Harry, how you feeling?" Neville asked with a grimace as the potion slowly removed his headache. Judging from the snores, Arthur had fallen back to sleep.

"Fine thanks Nev, You?"

"Fine now, did we really sing last night...in public?" he asked.

"Er yeah, think so. The Twins took us to something the muggles call a Karaoke bar I think. Who would have known that Dean could sing so well? Nearly broke my heart when he sang 'Danny Boy' for Seamus."

"You do know that they were a couple don't ya?" Neville asked.

Harry looked surprised and Neville nodded. "But what about all the girls and stuff?" Harry asked.

"A cover, whilst the Wizarding world seems to accept two witches getting together, it's a lot less tolerate of two wizards, but they had been together for a few years now. Personally I thought they made a nice couple, and they were very happy together. Dean's hurting Harry, he's hurting bad."

"Aw shit, this war just keeps on hurting people. Do you think he will be okay?"

"In time, I know that they had both discussed the possibility of either of them dying. They made each other promise not to spend the rest of their lives alone, but you know..."

"Yeah, talks easy."

The conversation stopped as Dean and the twins made their way into the kitchen and silently got their breakfast. Harry silently handed each of them a hangover potion, his hand stopping briefly on Dean's shoulder as he passed the grieving young man his potion. Dean looked at Harry in surprise before nodding at the unspoken communication that passed between the two friends. Unbidden a few tears sprung up at the corners of Deans eyes and Harry smiled and nodded in sympathy.

"Well eat up; we have to be at Hogwarts in an hour." Harry said with a sick look on his face. "And someone wake Arthur up please, he needs to get to the cottage to escort 'Mione."

I.Y. I.Y.I.Y.

A similar scene was playing out at Potter Cottage, except this one was more frantic as the dressing of four bridesmaids, one bride and the mother of the bride seemed to take a lot longer. Add into that a few steaming hangovers and the mystery of how Hermione had woken up hugging a traffic cone had made the morning an interesting one at that. Young Charlotte was over the moon to be a bridesmaid, but due to her connection with the castle she had only just arrived and was on a tight schedule as she did not like being away from the castle for too long. Consequently she was the first to be dressed by Madam Malkin who had made all the dresses except for the Brides which had come from the vaults at Gringotts. The adult Bridesmaids were all in a rich sapphire blue whilst Charlotte was in Ivory with a sapphire band across her middle. There was much giggling and semi-naked girls running around the house as they all dressed. Emma suddenly realised that Hermione was not present and she went in search of her immortal daughter. She soon found the elegantly dressed witch sat in front of a mirror in her room deep in thought. Emma stood by the door as she looked at her daughter; she was dressed in a pale ivory gown, of the shoulder with a tight bodice with gold detailing on the front and a thin shapely gown to her feet. Hermione's hair was elegantly styled in a knot on her head with wisps running down her cream neck. Upon her head was not the golden circlet that was a sign of her position in the magical world; as important and ancient as the circlet was, it was rather plain and instead she wore the newly recovered and re-polished Diadem of Ravenclaw, the Sapphire the same colour as the bridesmaid's dresses. Around her neck was a beautiful and large necklace with a teardrop Sapphire in the centre; a gift from Ragnok. All in all the overall effect was staggeringly beautiful and Emma wished deeply that Dan was here to see his beautiful daughter. Hermione was looking into the mirror with largely unseeing eyes.

"Penny for them love?" Emma asked gently.

Hermione jumped slightly and turned to see her mother with tears in her eyes as she looked at her.

With a sigh Hermione moved along the small bench she was sat on and her mother moved to sit next to her. Hermione rested her head on her mother's shoulder and smiled slightly.

"Just thinking, a lot has changed in such a small amount of time. We lost Ron, and that still hurts, we beat Voldemort but at a terrible price; I'm more powerful than ever and quite frankly that scares the be-jeebers out of me, and then there's the whole immortality thing as well as being practically royalty. It's just a lot to take in, you know?"

"Well there is also Harry..."

"Yeah, there's Harry." Hermione said with an odd twist to her voice.

"Don't tell me you are having second thoughts Hermione Granger?" Emma asked.

"Merlin no! Harry is absolutely everything to me and more, it's just am I good enough for him, will he get bored of me after a few hundred years or so?"

Emma just laughed. "Hermione, to say you are one of, if not the most intelligent witch ever, you are being very thick. That boy is totally and utterly besotted with you, he worships the ground that you walk on. He could no more get bored with you that I could fly to the moon."

"Really?" Hermione asked in a small voice.

"Really, you daft twit, everyone can see it."

Hermione hugged her mother and was quiet for a while before quietly speaking.

"I miss Dad." she sniffed.

"Oh Sweetie, I do too, but you know he's still with us don't you? Ever since you told me about meeting the creator or whatever he was I have felt your father close to me, like he's watching over us. It's been very comforting to feel his presence again. I even think this little one knows his father's with us." She said placing a hand over her swollen belly. There was a knock on the door and Luna poked her head around.

"Arthur's here 'Mione, its time." she told the pair.

Hermione wiped her eyes and waved her hand over her face to re-apply her slight makeup and stood; her face now resolute.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road!" she said with a smile.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry had arrived at Hogwarts and with Neville by his side; he entered the Great Hall stopping dead as he entered the room, his mouth agape. The room was like nothing he had ever seen before. The tables were gone and the chairs were arranged in a similar fashion to the sombre event a few days ago, but that was where the similarity ended. The room was aglow with light from the enchanted ceiling and at every pillar there were baskets of the most beautiful flowers arranged in artful bouquets. Red and gold ribbons bedecked the back of each chair and in the centre of the 'aisle' was a dark red carpet, its pile thick and lush. Sat at the chairs was the entire school body along with friends and family as well as numerous past students. Dudley was sat with Lisa, looking smart in a dark suit that showed how much weight the young man had lost. Sat on the other side was Hermione's few remaining relatives, her Aunt Katherine and her husband David along with her cousin Rebecca. Katherine was her father's sister and had only found out about her nieces legacy yesterday...

 _Flashback- yesterday afternoon_

 _Emma Granger knocked gently on the door to her daughter's bedroom and waited for a reply._

 _"Come in Mum" Hermione yelled._

 _Opening the door she entered the room to see both Hermione and Harry sat on a sofa reading newspapers; both looking sober after coming back from Malfoy manor. "How did you know it was me?" Emma asked._

 _Hermione laughed and just mock whispered "Magic mum."_

 _Emma rolled her eyes, she should have thought of that reply._

 _"What can we do for you Mum?" Hermione asked._

 _Emma sighed and bit the bottom of her lip in a way that suddenly made Harry realise where his beloved got the habit from._

 _"It's the wedding and your father's sister... She doesn't know about Dan or about you and magic, but..."_

 _"You want her to come, and you want us to tell her about Dad, magic and everything don't you?"_

 _"Love, we have no other relatives, my mum and dad are both gone and I have no siblings, your dads parents are both gone; your aunt Kathy is all you have left. You loved visiting when you were younger and you got on well with your cousin. We owe it to her...to Dad to tell her." Emma told her._

 _"I know mum, but it will be hard." Hermione sighed._

 _"Love, if she is the only family you have then we need to tell her, family is important. We can go now if you want. Where does she live?" Harry said._

 _Hermione smiled at him and took his hand. "She lives up in North Lincolnshire, just south of Hull, but we cannot apparate there, they don't know about magic yet."_

 _"Great, we can take the car; I've been dying to give it a whirl again." Harry grinned, happy to get away from his dark thoughts._

 _I.Y. I.Y. I.Y._

 _An hour later found the three of them sat in the beautiful old Aston on the M1 heading north. Harry had added a notice-me-not charm to the car as well as a speed one. They were currently doing over two-hundred miles an hour and both teens were loving the journey. Emma however was whimpering and had her hands over her eyes, her fingers splayed as she watched Harry weave through the traffic with an expert Seekers eye. She had spent the first ten minutes of the journey screaming but had now lost the ability to scream. Hermione occasionally would turn around to try to reassure her mother, but nothing seemed to work. By now Harry had got to junction 32 and turned off onto the M18 towards Hull. He was whistling a happy tune as he drove along the much quieter road and finally Emma began to relax. They slowed right down to normal speeds as they drove over the impressive Humber Bridge, and soon were pulling up to a nice looking cottage in one of the small villages. Harry killed the engine of the sports car now sat on a pebble drive and turned around to Emma._

 _"Well, we are here, how do you want to do this?" he asked her._

 _"Err..." but Emma never got chance to reply as the front door opened and slim, good looking woman in her thirties strode out followed by a teenager that was almost Hermione's double apart from this teen had jet black hair. The woman had Hermione's eyes and figure but she also had the black hair._

 _"Emma is that you?" the woman asked as she walked to the car. "And Hermione as well? Well this is a surprise." Emma by now had exited the car and embraced the younger woman. As she held her Kathy asked the one question Emma hoped she wouldn't._

 _"Emma, where's Dan?" Kathy asked and was surprised when Emma started to sob._

 _"Emma, what is it, my idiot older brother didn't leave you did he?" This caused Emma to sob even more than before. Hermione was now in Harry's arms crying whilst the teenager that stood next to her mother and aunt looked around in confusion._

 _Emma finally found her voice; "Kathy, I hate to have to tell you this but Dan..." she broke off._

 _Katherine Abbot (no relation!) finally began to realise that this was serious. She felt her heart plummet as she held her sobbing sister-in-law._

 _"No! Please God, not Dan..." she began as her own tears began to fall. "...How? When?" she finally managed to ask._

 _"C-C-Can we go inside, we have a lot to tell you." Emma stuttered. Kathy finally nodded and led them indoors. The teenager hung back and looked at her cousin with glassy, tear filled eyes._

 _"Hermione, I'm so sorry for your loss, Uncle Dan was a wonderful person." she finally said._

 _"Thanks Becky, we better go." Hermione managed but seeing the quizzical look that Rebecca was casting towards Harry she smiled sadly._

 _"Rebecca, this is Harry Potter, my...Husband." she said. Harry smiled and held out his hand for the stunned and saddened teenager._

 _"H-H-H-Husband...wow, just wow...sorry, good to meet you Harry." Rebecca said._

 _"You too Rebecca, I just wish it was under better circumstances." Harry said, shaking her hand before gently kissing her fingers. They heard a yell from the house and finally followed the two elder women into the house._

 _Soon they were all sat in the lounge; Emma sat opposite Kathy with the three teens on the sofa. Kathy had phoned her husband at work and he was on his way home. Emma was explaining about the two of them been in Australia and how they had both been attacked at work, how Dan had been killed and how Emma had ran over the perpetrator. Despite everything, Emma still tried to keep the truth about Hermione out of it, but Kathy was soon onto it._

 _"You're not telling me something Emma, It's bad enough that I learn the reason why I have been unable to contact my big brother for nearly a year is that he has been gallivanting around Australia and then got himself killed and also that I cannot attend my only brothers funeral but please don't lie to me."_

 _Emma sighed and looked at Hermione for help. Hermione took a deep breath and took over the conversation._

 _"Auntie Kathy, Mum is not deliberately lying to you. You see the reason why Mum and Dad were in Australia was to do with me and Harry."_

 _"And that's another thing, just who the hell are you?" Kathy asked looking at Harry._

 _"Aunt Kathy, as I have told you, this is Harry Potter, he is my husband and the reason why all of this happened is because Harry is a wizard and I am a witch; and we have just got out off a magical war in which Harry killed the most evil wizard who ever lived." Hermione said a little hotly._

 _There was a long moment of silence before Kathy gave a sarcastic laugh. "Come now Emma, is that the best you can come up with, some cock and bull story and from your daughter no less..." she broke off because Hermione stood and blurred to become a large lioness in the middle of the room. She stood and shook her coat, snarling as she did her long vicious looking fangs in full view. She walked around the room before blurring once more and turning back into the beautiful young woman she normally was._

 _There was a crash as the coffee mug that Kathy had been holding fell from her nerveless fingers and smashed on the floor._

 _"Whaaaa?" she said stupidly, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly; Rebecca was for some reason holding onto Harry's arm. As soon as Hermione re-appeared, Rebecca realised that she was holding Harry arm and let go with a loud 'eep!'_

 _"Aunt Kathy... AUNT KATHY!"Hermione said, snapping her fingers in front of her aunt's face. "It's still me; I just have a special power that most humans don't." Hermione began and soon she told the pair most of the real story, about Voldemort and Hogwarts; about magic and Harry; about the Wizarding world and her place in it as a Princess and Harry's connection to King Arthur. The only thing she missed out was the truth about their immortality. She even created a Pensieve for the pair to watch Dan's simple but powerful funeral. After an hour or two during which Kathy's husband David came home and the explanations as well as the demonstrations of magic took place once more; everyone was exhausted but it had been agreed that they would come tomorrow for the formal wedding. Harry created a portkey for them and with instructions on its use the trio left by apperation, the DB5 shrunk and in Harry's pocket._

 _End Flashback_

Harry walked to the front, nodding at friends as he did, Neville by his side. Near the front were sat the Weasley clan with the exception of Ginny and Arthur. Molly stood and embraced the boy she thought somewhat as her extra son.

"Harry, you look very handsome. Hermione is a very lucky young lady. Are you ready?" she asked as she embraced him.

"Yes Molly, I think I am." He replied as he gently kissed her cheek. Wiping away an errant tear Molly nodded back to him and Harry turned to take the hands of Bill, Charlie, Fred and George as well as to kiss the cheek of Fleur. Sat next to Fleur was a beautiful young woman whose silvery blonde hair matched the elder Veela's exactly. As Harry looked he realised that she was familiar to him.

"Gabrielle? Is that you?" he asked. Gabrielle smiled and a faint blush rose on her cheeks.

"Oui, 'Arry. I am 'appy you remember moi. It is good to see you, you look very 'ansome mon ami."

"Off course I remember you Gabrielle, how could I forget. You look lovely as well." he replied, gently kissing both of her cheeks as he spoke. Even Harry couldn't fail to see the radiant blush that encompassed the young Veela's face as he kissed her.

"Gabrielle?" he asked.

The blonde Veela looked at her feet in embarrassment before looking back at him.

"It is nothing 'Arry but a young girls crush. Do not worry about it, I am not looking to break up you and 'Ermione, but know if you ever wanted a second wife..." she said.

Harry grinned at her. "Not likely I'm afraid but if change my mind I'll let you know." he said with a grin. Gabrielle grinned back, knowing that he was trying to let her down gently. She really did love the young wizard and had made the offer seriously. She also knew that Harry realised this but was trying to allow her to keep some dignity. With a final smile Harry walked on the greet Kingsley and Gawain Robards along with Viktor.

"Kingsley, is everything ready for the elections tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes my Liege, everything is prepared. We have polling booths in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley as well as on in the Ministry building. Polling will open at nine and extend until eight tomorrow night. All polling stations will have an Auror guard and will be open to every Witch, Wizard and even Squibs over the age of seventeen. Every house hold has received voting slips as well as full instructions on how to vote." The interim Minister reported.

"And the polls? who do they list as favourite?" Harry asked.

Kingsley managed to blush and shuffled his feet. "Well it seems that the public seem to favour myself by a large majority sir. If they are to be believed then I will be your next minister by the end of tomorrows vote. We have planned a result ceremony in the Ministry foyer and it will be broadcast on the radio."

"Not my Minister Kingsley, but their Minister. After all this my wife and I intend to fade from public view and enjoy our lives together." Harry admonished.

"Off course my liege...Harry." he said, but could be quite clearly heard saying under his breath " _And I believe that when is see it!"_ Harry raised a single eyebrow and his lips curled to a slight smile at this, Gawain was less subtle and gave a loud guffaw of laughter and even Viktor smirked to himself. Before Harry could respond he 'heard' Cassie tell him that it was time. He nodded to the three men and quickly he and Neville moved to the front of the hall to stand in front of the magical embodiment of the school. Cassie was once more in her older form and was dressed in a beautiful ethereal white dress, her dark black hair cascading down her back and her beautiful face calm. She smiled and embraced Harry in a warm hug when he got to the front.

"Ready Father?" she asked.

"Yes Cassie, yes I am." Harry replied.

"Good because she is here."Cassie said as she once more took her place. Harry moved to the spot identified for him with Neville by his side. Cassie nodded to an unseen person and after a few seconds twenty or so wizards in full dress robes stood with long fluted trumpets in their hands and the hall was full of the sound of a full fanfare that announced the beginnings of the proceedings. At this sign everyone stood and as soon as the fanfare died away the rear doors off the hall opened magically. Surprisingly the first person to enter was Arthur Weasley who walked briskly to the front and took his place next to his wife. He smiled and nodded at Harry who was looking puzzled. Surely he didn't expect Hermione to walk the isle on her own did he? Then an invisible band began to play the wedding march and in walked first Charlotte dressed in her Ivory and blue dress. She smiled a wide smile and slowly walked down the aisle. She was followed by Lavender and Ginny, both looking beautiful and then following alone was the young immortal Vampiress, her blue gown matching the necklace she wore and complementing the purple of her wide and happy eyes. There was evidence of a few tears in her eyes as she carried a beautiful bouquet of flowers. As she walked and smiled it was clear to see that her fangs were unashamedly in full view. The four bridesmaids took their places at the front of the hall and there was a pause before the music rose a notch and Hermione appeared on the ghostly arm of...Daniel Granger.

Harry heard Emma gasp as she saw her husband dressed in full morning suit and on the arm of their beautiful daughter. He was clearly transparent but had some colour in him as the pair walked slowly down the aisle to the music. Hermione looked radiant and happy if a little shocked. She had closed down most of the connection she shared with Harry hours earlier but now allowed him to see the events that led to the 'powers that be' granting the soul of Dan Granger this one opportunity to walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. Arthur had readily agreed and had kissed the young woman on the cheek before leaving her with her father to speak for a few moments. There had been the usual recriminations and tears before Dan convinced her that what had happened had to happen and that he was safe and happy in the afterlife. So it was a happy Hermione and a proud Dan that walked down the aisle towards the young immortal wizard that held the heart of this powerful immortal witch upon his arm. Reaching the front Daniel Granger was allowed some substance for a few minutes and he handed over the hand of his daughter to Harry.

"Look after her Harry for me, she means the world to me." he said in a quiet voice that seemed to fill the room.

"I will sir, I will with everything I am." Harry replied. Dan nodded and gently kissed his Hermione with cool ghostly lips. Hermione smiled at him and mouthed to him. 'I love you Dad' Dan nodded and then turned with a 'sigh' to face his wife.

"Emma, my darling Emma...I miss you love. I'm sorry for leaving you, but it was my time. If I hadn't of died then you and our future would have." he said with his hand gently touching Emma's swollen belly.

"D-D-Dan, oh my Daniel...it hurts so much." she began, behind them they both could hear Kathy crying into her husband's chest.

"I know love, but I am always with you and will be watching you until you join me. Live your life my Emma - live it well and be happy. Raise our son, our little Daniel and know that I will be waiting for you. Until then my love." he said as he raised his hand to her cheek and slowly faded away.

Emma raised her hand to her cheek where he had caressed her and with her other hand wiped away the tears. Not knowing who to thank she raised her head and spoke to the sky.

"Thank you for giving me that opportunity." she whispered. There was a deep bell like noise and Harry, Hermione and Emma heard a voice say, 'Your Welcome." Only Harry and Hermione recognised it as Bob's voice.

With a sad but content smile Emma nodded at Cassie and she moved back to stand with Molly and Arthur. Cassie smiled and indicated that Harry and Hermione were to come and stand in front of her.

"My friends, we are all gathered her to witness the union of two souls bound by love. The two stood in front of me have many titles and names but today they are simply Harry and Hermione. In the end that is all that matters and I am blessed and honoured to bear witness to the official joining of these two individuals. Many things will be written about these two but I want you to all remember in the years to come, this day; this day when they stood before you and declared their love for each other. Magical marriage is a wondrous thing and these two people have a bond that has never been seen before and may never be seen again. They share a life essence, they are more than soul mates, they are eternal, they are forever." Cassie paused, even though she had openly declared their immortality to most it just seemed that she was just talking figuratively.

"Harry, Hermione if you would like to say your vows to each other." she continued.

Harry looked into the eyes of the woman he was destined to spend eternity with and smiled. "Hermione, when we met all those years ago, you were a slightly bossy bookworm with no friends. However the moment I saw you, I saw something that captivated my heart and my soul. Over the years and our many adventures I grew to love the vivacious, clever and powerful witch you had become and despite the events surrounding it, the day you told me of your love for me was the happiest day of my life. You are my everything, without you I am nothing. I promise that I will love you till the end of days and I will be by your side throughout all that this life will throw at us, the good, the happy, the sad and the bad times. Hermione I love you with everything that I am." As he finished he reached over to brush the silent tears that were flowing down Hermione's cheeks and she reached up to cup his hand and hold it there. Behind them nearly every Witch and quite a few Wizards were snuffling into handkerchiefs and Molly and Emma were bawling their eyes out.

Hermione looked up and spoke to Harry, her words strong and proud.

"Harry years ago you saved a sad lonely bookworms life from a troll that surely would have killed me. In that simple but brave act, my fate was sealed. My heart was forever yours but I did not think myself good enough for you so I remained silent. However I followed you at every turn and would have gladly died for you. I loved you from afar, certain that we could not be together but that one day you changed my life forever; you opened your heart to me and made me the happiest woman who ever lived. You complete me, you make me what I am, and there are no words that can describe the depths of my love for you. I promise to love you unconditionally and to be with you forever, in this world and whatever others we may encounter." Even though it was not the right time, Harry couldn't help himself; he reached across and gently but firmly kissed Hermione on the lips. When they broke apart everyone was smiling at the pair. Cassie looked over at Neville.

"Do you have the rings?" She asked the young Lord in waiting.

Neville handed over the two Mithrill and gold rings to Cassie and stood back.

"The giving of rings has been used to signify the marriage of two souls for many centuries. The ring, the eternal circle signifies that the couples love is never ending. Harry and Hermione take your partners ring and declare your love."

The two immortals took each a ring and held them just in front of their ring fingers. Together, looking into each other's eyes they spoke the words they had earlier memorised.

"With this ring I take you as my partner in all things, now and forever." With that they pushed the rings home and kissed. Normally at this point the couple's hands would glow signifying the completion of the marriage bond but in this case their entire body's began to glow an intense and deep golden glow that extended from the couple in all directions. As they kissed the light became so bright that most watching had to turn away. Suddenly the light erupted from the pair and like a rocket it shot to the ceiling and beyond, bursting out of the roof of the school and illuminating the heavens. When the light finally faded the congregation were presented with the view of Harry and Hermione holding each other looking at them with big beaming smiles on their faces. Cassie was stood behind them and somewhat needlessly spoke.

"My friends, I present to you Prince and Princess Pendragon, Lord and Lady Potter, Harry and Hermione."

The crowd began to clap and soon the applause was thunderous as the people welcomed the new couple to the Wizarding world.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for the couple, everyone wanted to congratulate the happy couple and shake their hands or kiss their cheeks. The magnificent banquet that the Hogwarts elves had laid on was a noisy and rambunctious affair and it was a happy but exhausted couple that finally fled to the Cottage and their room for their wedding night. Like every newlywed couple they slept little and loved a lot. Finally they fell asleep happy that tomorrow would bring lasting change to their world and then they could go on a long deserved honeymoon to their private island in the Maldives that they had just discovered that they owned. Little did they know events would conspire against them.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty Seven – Elections and The final Battle.**

The elections were going well; the queues had begun early in the morning at the polling booths had continued to grow steadily as the morning progressed. The voting process was simple, the witch or wizard would enter the booth and would be presented with pictures of the four candidates. There was the beaming smile of Fred Weasley with George in the back ground; Stephen Greengrass and Peter Davis looking proud and serious; Jack Goyle was running on his own, it seemed no one wanted to be his running mate and the picture showed him looking shifty and scowling. Finally there was Kingsley and Arthur, looking all the world like they were supposed to be there. The voting person just needed to touch the picture of the person they wanted to vote for with their wand for the vote to be cast. The lines were moving fairly quickly and there were Auror guards making sure that the peace was kept. Enterprising shop owners in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade had set up refreshment tables along the long lines and in Diagon alley Fred and George Weasley were keeping the crowds happy with their own brand of entertainment. This tended to be noisy, smelly or just plain odd but the crowds seemed to enjoy it. The day was bright and relatively warm and the whole thing seemed to be generating a carnival atmosphere. That's not to say everyone was happy with the proceedings; the Aurors had to arrest a small group of what turned out to be Death Eater sympathisers who started shooting curses at the queues in Hogsmeade. However unknown to the attackers, Harry and Hermione had placed shield charms along the route the queues were taking and this prevented any injury. The group were quickly stunned and sent for questioning by the Aurors.

Harry and Hermione had got up late that morning, tired after the events of the previous day as well as the night. Harry lay in bed with Hermione's hair sprawled over his chest as he watched his wife sleep. Gently he stroked her face as he contemplated living with this goddess for all eternity. The thought alone gave him goose-bumps and made his breath hitch a notch as he thought about it.

 _#I feel the same way Harry#_ came Hermione's thought direct to his mind.

 _#Sorry if I woke you, but you just look so beautiful and I couldn't help myself.#_

 _#You didn't wake me, I was awake already, I just couldn't be bothered to move Husband of mine.#_

 _#Husband? I was already that my love.#_

 _#Yeah, but now you are official and mine forever...I think I'll keep you!#_ she teased.

"Keep me? Why you little..." and with that he began to tickle her mercilessly until she begged for him to stop, and then he tickled her some more.

Once Hermione was finally free of his clutches, she conjured a bucket of icy water and threw it over him, totally drenching him and most of the bed. She hooted with laughter at his stunned expression and before he could react, she ran out of the room. Luckily for her, they had the cottage to themselves as she was totally butt naked as she fled the bedroom.

With a cry, Harry chased after her, dripping water everywhere as he ran. He caught up with her as she tried to enter the large bathroom and lock the door behind her, totally aware that even a locked door would not stop him. With a roar he caught her around her waist as she screamed in mock surprise.

"Why you little minx!" he growled as he looked down at her flushed face. Suddenly they both gained serous expression and as one they hungrily kissed each other, their hands touching each other with a sense of urgency. As they finally broke apart, Hermione looked at Harry with lust filled eyes and grabbed one of his hands and pulled him towards the shower. With a wave of her hand she set the shower running and they both entered. She turned to him once more and with the hot water running over them both they kissed with a passion and intensity that thrilled her. She slowly turned so her back was rested against his chest. She shivered as he kissed her neck and shoulders and gasped as his hands lowered.

"We can remove the contraception charm if you want?" she whispered.

"You sure?" Harry asked in a surprise voice. They had discussed kids and Harry had admitted to wanting them very much, but he felt Hermione was still unsure. This offer surprised him to say the least.

"Yeah, I'm ready Harry, make me pregnant." She growled at him, waving her hand over her abdomen.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Hermione slowly turned around and held herself against him as they slowly came down from their highs.

"Wow!...just wow!" Hermione said, her eyes flashing with desire and love.

"Do you think...?" Harry asked

"Yeah, I think we did." She replied.

"You okay with that?"

"Yes Harry, I am so happy to have your baby...our baby."

"But you know we will outlive it, how are we going to cope with that?" Harry asked as the shower rained on the pair.

"With love, honesty and respect. Sure it will hurt but so long as we are upfront with our children then we will survive. Come on we need to get dressed and down to the voting booths."

Harry groaned and with a grinning Hermione pulling him to his feet, they washed and left the shower to get dressed.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Elsewhere another soul was waking from her slumber. However in this instance the young Vampire woke with tears spilling down her eyes as she sat up. Whilst actually not needing much sleep, Luna still liked to snuggle under the covers and will herself to sleep and last night had been no exception. However this morning she had such a realistic dream that she immediately knew that it was a portent of things to come. She had not had any such feeling since her turning and was surprised at the vividness of the dream.

"Oh no, it's today!" was all she said as she struggled out from the duvet and sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands as she cried for what was to come.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The crowds moved to one side as they watched the two walk towards the voting booth. There were gasps and murmurs as they watched the Wizarding worlds royalty make their way to the back of the long queue that had formed in Diagon Alley.

Harry felt uncomfortable with the attention that they were getting but tried his best to be nice about it. A few people tried to suggest that they need not queue with everyone else but both Harry and Hermione insisted that they should be treated the same as everyone else. As they waited their turn a few friends came to say hello.

"Hiya Dean, how are you coping?" Harry asked his ex-room mate.

"Fine... well okay not so fine. I take it you know about Seamus and me?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah mate." Harry told him.

"And you are okay with it, with me been...you know?"

"Gay? Of course buddy, not got a problem at all although I didn't have a clue."

Dean smiled a sad smile. "Well Seamus wanted it kept quite. The Wizarding world is not quite as accepting as the Muggle one."

"What are you going to do now?" Hermione asked him.

"Well I'm off to Ireland to spend some time with Seamus's family, you know to mourn him, to tell silly stories and to get rat-faced. After that I was thinking of signing up to your post-grad collage. I fancy been a healer to try to stop other people having to lose a loved one."

"Well you will be more than welcome." Hermione told him with a warm smile.

Dean nodded and looked around at the crowds. "This is amazing, what you two have done. Never thought I'd see that day that free elections took place."

"You voted?" Harry asked.

"Yeah a few minutes ago. Felt good, you know?" he replied.

Harry nodded and after a few more minutes Dean left to go do some shopping for his trip to Ireland. The queue shuffled a few more feet closer to the booth when the pair were joined by Kingsley and Arthur as well as a few discrete Aurors.

"How are you two doing?" Kingsley asked after they greeted each other.

"Good, you two?" Hermione replied.

"Well, we are enjoying this. Everything seems to be going well and there is an impressive turn out both here and at Hogsmeade."

"Fantastic, how long to count the results?" Harry asked.

"Oh that's done by magic, as soon as voting closes then we will know. You will be at the Ministry for the results?"

"Oh yes, wouldn't miss it for the world." Harry told him.

Kingsley grinned and with a wave he and his retinue left.

"Do you think he will win?" Hermione asked.

"I hope so, he will be good for our world and things will be better with him in charge."

They queued in silence until they got to the small number of booths at the head of the queue. They handed over their wands for identification to the Ministry official in charge and each entered a booth. Harry looked at the options available and with a silent apology to his friends, Fred and George, touched the picture of Kingsley with the tip of his wand. The image flared and the door at the back of the booth opened for Harry to exit.

Harry waited for a few minutes before the booth next to the one he used opened and Hermione stepped out.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Fine love, ready?" she replied.

"Yeah, come on." And he took her hand and without a sound they both vanished to re-appear in the lobby of a large house set deep in the hills of Scotland. As soon as they both appeared there was a pop and an elderly House Elf appeared, complete with knarled cane to aid his frail looking body.

"Welcome to Potter Manor my Lord and Lady. I am Charlus, the last of the Potter Elves."

"Thank you Charlus, I am Harry and this is my lovely wife Hermione. It is a pleasure to meet you. I apologise for not coming to the manor sooner but we have been rather busy lately."

"No apologises necessary my Lord, I am aware of your recent exploits. Your young friend Dobby has been keeping me updated on current events. He is a ... unusual one but both he and young Miss Winky are very loyal to the Potter family. The pair have been helping an old Elf clean and update the Manor. Young Mister Dobby wanted to surprise you both by not telling you, a wedding present he called it."

Both Harry and Hermione smiled and called the excitable pair of Elves to them. With a near silent 'pop' both appeared in front of them with beaming smiles.

"Master Harry Potter sir, I hope you are happy with our surprise." Dobby exclaimed as he bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Honestly Dobby, call him Harry! You know that's what he wants us to do." Winky admonished.

"Winky! He is our Master whatever he says, he is Prince Pendragon and she is the Princess Pendragon. A good elf does not use first names." Dobby told her.

Harry sighed and knelt down so he was at the same level as the two elves.

"Dobby, Winky. I am pleased to see you both and you helping Charlus to clean and update the manor; it was a very nice thing to do. Dobby, I would rather be called Harry but if you cannot do that, can you at least not use the word 'Master'. It makes me sound like Voldemort and I do not want that. How about 'Sir' as a compromise?" he asked.

Dobby thought about it for a while and finally after looking at both Winky and Charlus nodded his head.

"Yes Sir Harry Potter, that will be fine." He was put off slightly by a giggle that escaped from Winky.

"No Dobby, just 'Sir' or 'Sir Harry'. You do not need to use his full name."

"And what about you Winky?" Harry asked.

"If you like I will still call you Harry and Hermione." She said with a smile, despite the glower coming from Dobby.

"Thank you both. Now Charlus, what can you tell me about the manor?" Harry asked.

Charlus stood as straight as his bent frame would allow and proudly began to speak.

"Potter Manor has been here for over seven hundred years. It was built by your ancestor Oliver Potter in 1323; we are in the highlands of Scotland and the manor is over four hundred acres in size. As well as the manor house we have seven acres of garden and the rest is either mountains, forest, farm land as well as the village of Hogsmeade and the school. We have thirty farm houses and their families that pay a small annual tithe to the manor for the rent of the land and we get 15 percent of their annual profits. The house consists of three main wings as well as numerous out buildings. We have nearly twenty guest bedroom as well as the master bedroom, formal dining rooms and sitting rooms that are used for guest parties as well as the informal ones that your mother insisted we install. There is a ballroom as well as duelling and training rooms. Your mother also insisted that we install a swimming pool and one of the wings is installed with electricity as shielded from the main house. This wing is set up with muggle technology that we have just updated. We also have a new car garage complete with over twenty classic cars as well as some newer ones. There is a full Quidditch pitch at the rear of the house that your father installed as well as a fully stocked wine cellar." He told the stunned pair.

Harry and Hermione were stunned, and with a few words let themselves be lead on a tour of the stunning house. Despite its age and size it felt warm and homely and both felt at home quickly. They both decided to move into the manor much to the delight of the aged elf and the process of moving their belongings such as they were from the cottage began.

"Dobby, can you find me mother and ask her if she would come to speak to us please?" Hermione asked as they sat in the warm and cosy informal lounge. Dobby nodded and popped away only to re-appear with Emma in tow a few seconds later looking a little startled.

"Hermione, Harry...wow that's a head rush." She began as she stumbled slightly. Harry moved to catch her and helped her sit in a large leather chair.

"Sorry, Dobby gets slightly over excited sometimes. I should have sent Winky, she's a little more..er level-headed Mum." Hermione apologised.

"Never mind dead, you wanted to speak to me?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, we wanted to know your plans now that things are more settled. Do you want to go back to Australia?" Hermione asked her mother once they had explained about the manor.

Emma grimaced at the thought and shook her head. "No, I don't think so, too many bad memories. Besides I want this little one to grow up with his big sister around so I think I will sell the place in Aus' and find somewhere here."

"Well if you interested, we have a proposal for you. Harry and I are moving into the Manor, so that leaves to Cottage empty. Why don't you take the cottage and live there. It will be brilliant for you and we can attach it to this floo here so you can visit whenever you want. We can also have road built to it so you can take a car and drive into the muggle world if you want."

Emma was stunned and her mouth opened and closed before she was able to form coherent words.

"I cannot take the Cottage, it's yours..."

"Nonsense, you are family now Emma and we cannot live in two houses. If it makes you feel better we can rent out the Cottage to you." Harry told her.

Emma considered his words, she did love the Cottage and felt very happy their despite the recent trauma of the loss of her husband. "Well it would help me out, and it would be a lovely place to bring up young Daniel. Could you also link the floo to Molly's place as well?"

"Sure Mum, easy." Hermione told her.

"Okay then, I'll do it. Oh, how much rent do you want?" she asked as an afterthought.

"Oh I think a pound a will do...a year!" Hermione said. Emma began to splutter but Hermione just laughed.

"Too late now mum, you already said yes!" she giggled.

"But!...but!" Emma began.

"Emma, its fine, think of it as you acting as a caretaker for the cottage." Harry told her; aware that they had both silently just agreed to sign the ownership of the cottage to Emma but deciding not to tell her just yet.

Emma signed in resignation and nodded her head. "Thank you both, now how do I get my stuff from Australia?" she asked.

"Well Auror Davies is already keeping an eye on your house over there. After the election ball tonight we can apparate over there and ask him to help us sell the house and we can bring your things back with us." Hermione told her.

"Talking of the Ball, we had better get ready to go. It's only an hour before we are due at the Ministry." Harry said.

With that Emma took the Winky express back to the cottage to begin the process of making it her home and the newly married couple began to get ready for the event that evening.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

The Creature finished feeding as his latest victim died. He dropped the handful of intestines he had in his hands and reached back into the dead carcass and ripped out the still warm and twitching heart. With a gleeful smile he opened his mouth wider than looked possible and with a single swallow ate the organ whole. The dead and unseeing eyes of the mother looked back at him and he grinned at her. She had screamed in the most delightful way when he had killed her baby and husband; feeding him more than he thought a muggle was capable of.

"Soon pretty! Soon! Tonight we dine on wizard scum!" he growled, the red blood dripping down the face of the teenage wizard that he had stolen all those years ago.

I.Y. I.Y.I.Y.

Harry and Hermione flooed into the Ministry building and were greeted by an Auror guard led by Viktor Krum. Both were wearing their best cloths; Harry in a dark red set of dress robes with his golden circlet glinting in the light and Hermione in a beautiful silver gown complete with warm cape and her circlet. She also had on her necklace that she had worn at her wedding to complete the ensemble. As soon as they walked away from the grate, the floo flared once more and Luna, Ginny and Neville walked out all wearing their best clothes. Ginny and Neville looked radiant together, with Ginny helping Neville get over the loss of his grandmother. Her large engagement ring was shining in the light and the pale blue gown she wore looked lovely on her. Luna was dressed equally as nice but she looked worried and pensive. When Harry and Hermione had arrived at the Burrow to pick the three of them up earlier, Luna had flung her arms around the pair crying her eyes out. Molly had told them that she had been teary all day but wouldn't or couldn't tell anyone what the problem was. When the pair tried to ask the pretty vampire what the problem was all she said was that she knew something was going t to happen tonight and that they needed to be prepared. This has prompted Hermione to make some alterations to her outfit. Underneath the elegant gown she wore combat clothes; tight fitting and made form Basilisk hide. Harry also wore armour and carried his staff, shrunk in an invisible wand holder.

"Harry, Hermy-own-ninny it's good to see you both. Congratulations on your vedding. I am to escort you to the ball, the results of your election are due in ten minutes and Acting Minister Shacklebolt wants you on the stage when they come in." Viktor told them.

Harry nodded and clasped the older man's arm. "Viktor, good to see you." He leaned in close. "Stay alert tonight and warn your men. We believe something is up." He told him quietly whilst walking with the man. The three Auror guards fell in behind the group as they walked to the main foyer.

Viktor looked alarmed and nodded his head. He spoke quietly but quickly into what looked like a muggle microphone on his lapel, issuing instructions to his team.

"Do you have any idea what sort of threat ve are facing?" he asked. Harry looked over at Luna who looked away sadly.

"No Viktor, but be careful." He replied. "Keep all the exits clear and be prepared to evacuate everyone if needed."

"Da!" Viktor said as they entered the large foyer. The foyer had been transformed into a large open plan area full of people. There was a band playing in once corner and waiters and waitresses combed the floor with trays of drinks and canapés on them. Near the centre of the room a raised area had been constructed and it was here that the electoral candidates and their families stood chatting. As Harry and Hermione passed the crowds they saw many familiar faces, many who nodded or waved at them. Getting nearer to the stage Harry briefly stopped to embrace Tonks and her new baby as well as Remus. Whispering a warning to Remus as he did, the last of the Marauders nodded and moved his wand to a more accessible place. The party soon got to the front and were warmly greeted by Arthur and Molly who had both gone ahead of them as was required. The Twins, Charlie, bill and Fleur were also on the stage with drinks in hand. With the music playing there was a happy carnival atmosphere that Harry was loathed to spoil. Taking Arthurs hand he briefly hugged the man who was nearly a father to him and both went to greet the other candidates. Stephen Greengrass was with his wife and two daughters; Daphne and Astoria and were stood with Peter Davis and his family. Harry and Hermione greeted their classmates warmly despite all three of them been Slytherins. Daphne and Tracey were very happy to see both of them but Astoria blushed when introduced to Hermione and struggled to say anything.

"Don't worry about Tori, she's got a bit of a crush on you Hermione." Daphne staged whispered much to Astoria's horror. Hermione also blushed and Harry grinned at her, earning himself a smack on the arm.

"Ouch! Hey I didn't do anything!" he whined. Hermione ignored him and turned to the blushing teenager.

"Astoria, Tori. I'm flattered but I'm afraid that nothing can happen. If I left this big lummox he would get into all sorts of mischief and neither of us would want that now would we?" she said, causing Astoria to grin despite her embarrassment. Harry looked hurt and mouthed the word 'Lummox' to Daphne and Tracey who grinned back at him.

"Come on Harrykins, we need to be going." Hermione said taking him by the hand and pulling him along.

"B-B-But..." he began, trailing off as Hermione laughed.

Once out of earshot he turned to her and grinned.

"Did I do okay?" he asked.

"Fantastic, almost like you could hear my thoughts..." she laughed. They both turned as they heard a man grump at their antics.

"Mr Goyle, how are you?" Harry asked the man who was all alone and looking down at them with a disdainful expression.

"Tolerable Lord Potter, despite all this riff-raff in here. All these Mudb... ahem Muggleborn's and half bloods; it's like decent purebloods like ourselves cannot go out anymore."

Harry glared at him and ground his teeth. "Have you met my wife, the Princess Pendragon, daughter of Dan and Emma Granger, muggle dentists?" he grated.

Jack gulped as he realised that he had just insulted the most powerful wizard and his wife in the world and mumbled a response before scurrying away.

"Arsehole!" Harry muttered before turning to speak to Kingsley who had been watching the exchange with interested eyes.

"Acting Minister, how are you?" he asked formally

"Prince Pendragon, I am well thank you." Kingsley replied with a grin, equally formally.

"Good, how long King' before the results?" Harry asked in a more normal voice.

"Voting closes in five minutes, and then we will know."

"Good, let's hope that wanker doesn't win. If he does then I may just have to declare martial law!" Harry replied heatedly, with Hermione glaring at him for his bad language.

Kingsley laughed out loud in his deep laugh. "I think most people would agree with you if that was the case." He told them.

"Come let me get you both a drink. Tonight is a night for celebration." He said.

Harry sighed and briefly told the big man about their concerns. Kingsley became serious and looked around the room for any obvious signs of trouble.

"We can only be on our guard; I assume you have told the Aurors?"He asked.

"Yes, I told Viktor, he's making plans."

"Good, he's a good man. Pity we can't keep him."

They all moved to grab a drink, Harry and Hermione sticking to non alcoholic ones. Kingsley had initially picked up a large glass of champagne, but seeing the other two's choices he sighed and changed it for a Butterbeer.

As everyone chatted there was suddenly a loud fanfare from the band and one of the Aurors banged a large metal mace on the ground. Everyone stopped what they were doing and Harry walked to the front of the stage.

"My friends thank you all for coming. We are here at a historical moment in our history; we are here to hear the results of the first free and full public election to decide who will lead us..."

"YOU HARRY!" came a shout from a slightly drunk wizard, everyone laughed at this and Harry smiled.

"Thank you for your vote, but I think others are better suited for the position than I. Anyway moving on, we are here to hear the results and we are joined by all four of the running candidates. We have Mr Jack Goyle running alone."

There was a smattering of applause and the man in question glared at the crowd.

"We have Lord Stephen Greengrass with his running mate Mr Peter Davis." This time the applause was more genuine and prolonged.

"We also have Mr Fred Weasley and his running mate, his twin brother George Weasley." Fred and George waved frantically whilst everyone either laughed or cheered. Most knew that Fred didn't stand a chance but the twins had made the whole process more enjoyable.

"And finally we have Mr Kingsley Shacklebolt and his running mate Arthur Weasley."

This time the applause was thunderous and Harry allowed it to continue for a good few minutes before continuing.

"If I may have the results please?" he asked. One of the Ministerial workers that was in charge of the voting ran over and handed Harry a sheet of parchment. Harry glanced at the sheet and tried to cover his grin.

"My Lords and Ladies, witches and wizards I have the results. In fourth place with two percent of the votes we have Mr Jack Goyle."

Jack looked furious and walked off the stage ignoring the laughs that followed him.

"In third place we have with an impressive eleven percent of the vote, we have Mr Fred Weasley."

"DAMM RIGHT!" Fred yelled.

"The second place candidate received twenty three percent of the vote meaning our winner gained a massive sixty four percent of the public vote. Ladies and Gentlemen, our new Minister is..."

Harry paused and nearly laughed when most people in the crowd leaned forward. There was silence in the room apart from the whisper of the radio presenter commentating on the results for those listening on the Wizarding wireless system.

"...is MR. KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT!"

There was loud applause as everyone cheered the new Minister. Stephen Greengrass and Peter Davies shook his hand good naturedly and Arthur and Molly hugged the big man.

"Minister Shacklebolt, if you would like to say a few words." Harry invited the man to the front. Kingsley walked over and shook Harry hand before turning to the crowd. He waved as the applause washed over him before raising his hands for quiet.

"Thank you..."

There was a huge explosion and the far wall of the foyer exploded outwards showering people in debris and crushing those unfortunate enough to be close. A tall dark figure walked though the gap and raised a long black sword. With his free hand he made a sweeping motion and suddenly both Harry and Hermione found themselves flying backwards though the air. They both impacted the back wall of the foyer at nearly eighty miles an hour and were both killed instantly. People gaped in horror as both of their royalty were seemingly killed by the creature. The Creature with his sword hand threw a bolt of pure magic from the dark sword, its light a dark purple and black and everyone could sense the evilness that it emitted. The bolt flew straight and true towards the newly revealed Minister. Kingsley had frozen, all his years of Auror training had left him as he stared death in the face. Nothing human could escape the bolt of death that was screaming towards him and in the fractions of seconds he had he made his peace with the world. However fate intervened; nothing Human could out-manoeuvre the bolt of energy, but something werewolf could. Remus Lupin; last of the Marauders; was stood close to the stage, his wife in his arms as he watched the future of the Wizarding world about to die. He knew he had to act and with a speed that non else could match he jumped up to the stage and with a cry, pushed Kingsley out of the path of the deadly bolt. The startled Minister fell to the floor and looked up to see his saviour standing and looking at him with an odd expression on his face. Remus looked down at his torso and was surprised to see daylight shining through where his stomach used to be. The wound was about a hands width in diameter and was perfectly round. The edges had cauterised the wound but in a distracted way he knew even with his remarkable healing powers, this wound was fatal. All of a sudden his legs lost their strength and he fell to his knees. Faintly he heard a woman scream his name and then feel a warm embrace as the woman of his dreams face came into his field of vision.

"Remus...oh Remus no!" she cried. Tonks looked around desperately for help but none was coming, none was not even possible as her husband's body slowly realised that it was dead and the light began to fade from his eyes. He could also distantly hear the screams of terror coming from the people around him. Molly Weasley was the loudest as she looked on in horror at the scene in front of her, caused by the creature that wore her dead sons face. Arthur Weasley had moved to her side and she was also surrounded by her remaining sons. Greengrass and Davies were trying to protect their family but most of the people on the stage were gaping at the events, their mouths open slack jawed.

Remus had weakly raised his hand to touch the face that meant so much to him.

"I Love yo..." and his arm fell to his side, his face losing all of its definition. Remus Lupin, last of the Marauders was dead.

"NOOOOO!" Tonks screamed. She gently let her husband to the floor and closed his eyes for the last time. The Creature was watching this with delight; the energy that the scene was giving off was like manna from the devil for him. He was slightly annoyed that his intended target was still alive but no matter, he could deal with it at his leisure. He glanced over at the two broken bodies of his ex-friends and just to make sure of the fact he quickly cast the same spell at the one he considered to be the most danger to him. A large hole suddenly appeared in Harry's chests, vaporising both heart and lungs and leaving a gaping and bloody hole. He grinned to himself but was surprised when he felt a powerful killing spell hit him from the side. Although incapable of killing him, after all nothing could... it hurt quite a lot. Turning he saw the enraged figure of Nymphadora Ton...Lupin casting curse after curse at him. She was screaming obscenities at him as she tried desperately to destroy her husband's killer.

The Creature laughed and with a wave of his sword, he caused her wand to explode, burning and damaging the enraged witches hand on the process. She screamed in agony and fell to the floor next to the body of the werewolf.

The Creature stalked over and looked down at the sight in front of him, Tonks was now crying once more over the corpse of her life partner, he anger replaced with grief and despair. It was delicious!

"Hello Pretty!" he growled. It seemed that the moment he spoke was the moment that broke the stupor that had gripped the crowd. Suddenly there was screaming as people started to run for the exits. Viktor and his comrades were suddenly everywhere, herding the crowd to safety and for a few moments nothing could be heard except the sound of floos activating. At least two thirds of the crowd managed to escape before the creature waved his hand once more and the floos shut down with a thud.

"Well that's rude, you all leaving before the climax to the show." He growled. He looked around at the few remaining people and smiled to himself.

"People of the Wizarding world. It is appropriate that I reveal myself to you on this day, a day where you have a new leader. However the identity of the leader will be a little different to that which you wanted. You will now serve me and my brethren. This is now my world; you will work for me to help harvest the vast food source that this world will provide. All muggles are now to be consumed by myself and my children. You cannot stop me, for I am immortal and unstoppable."

He flinched as a cutting curse hit his side but did no damage. He turned his vast armoured body to the source of the curse and grinned at Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Tut tut! That's rather rude little man. I think it's time for a little snack." He said as drool dribbled from his maw. With a click he opened his jaw far further than the human skull was normally capable and slowly bent down to the fear paralysed Minister. Kingsley slowly realised that he intended to eat him and tried to move but his body had betrayed him. He let out a whimper and closed his eyes once more awaiting the inevitable.

There was an ear piercing scream and Kingsley opened his eyes to see the Creature flying away from his and hitting the ground with a thud. There was a 'snap' as its legs broke. The Creature was looking around in horror and Kingsley turned to see both Harry and Hermione, eyes blazing with golden fire and both with outstretched hands. From these hands pulses of golden fire were been shot at the creature, hitting it all over its body and causing it to scream in agony. Gone were the ceremonial robes and beautiful dress and both stood in skin tight and shimmering Basilisk armour. It made for an impressive sight and what with the glowing staff that Harry held in his free arm Kingsley felt a pang of hope where there was none before.

The pair finally stopped sending the bolts towards the now bleeding creature and Harry spoke.

"ENOUGH! This ends here Ron!" he yelled.

The creature looked at the pair with apparent fear in its eyes. "How?" he grated through his teeth.

Harry glared at his former friend and then looked at the remaining stunned crowd.

"I am Harry James Potter, Lord of that house and heir to the founders of Hogwarts. I am Prince Pendragon of the blood at the great King Arthur; and the blood of Merlin runs through my veins; and I am immortal. You cannot win here, leave and do not return. This is your only chance." He told him.

The creature bowed his head and his whole body was shaking. At first Harry and Hermione thought he was crying but then the creature slowly moved to his feet, his head still bowed. The wounds on his body evident for the world to see and his leg was bent at a very odd angle. Slowly he raised his head and both immortals felt fear as they realised that the Creature was not crying but laughing. As he laughed, his wounds healed and his leg snapped back into place with a sickening crunch. He then stood tall and flung his head back as he laughed.

"Immortal! Oh that's hilarious. You think that will stop me? You fools. You may have stood a chance before you killed that idiot Riddle, but you see you missed one! You missed one of his precious Horcrux's. I switched the cup you see. When you killed him, he began to reform using the cup, but I'm a Soul Vampire; souls are my food and he tasted so good. All that power and knowledge... mine now. So you will forgive me if I don't take your threats seriously." He grinned at the pair and with a speed few possessed flung a cutting curse at Hermione. It hit her and ran straight threw her neck. Her eyes blinked as she looked at Harry before her head slowly toppled from her body and rolled away. Her body remained upright for a few seconds before it collapsed into a bloody heap.

"Let's see how your whore functions without a head shall we." The Creature gloated.

Harry glared at it and raised his staff and sent wave after wave of curses at the Creature. Most were batted away or shielded but a few hit home causing the Creature to grunt in pain. What followed was one of the most ferocious battles the magical world had ever witnessed. The two combatants practically flew around the rapidly disintegrating foyer. Stone and plaster rained down on the few remaining people as they all scurried for cover. Molly held her boys close as they took cover and Ginny held Neville to her for comfort. Kingsley and the remaining Aurors were desperately trying to shield the remaining few but inevitable there were causalities.

Harry was growing tired and the feeling surprised and worried him. He suddenly realised that the Creature was stronger, faster and more powerful that he had ever imagined. He was no longer using spells as anyone else knew them but sending waves of pure magic in a bid to defeat the creature. However whatever he threw at it, whatever injuries he inflicted; the creature just kept going. All the while laughing and taunting him.

"You cannot win Potter! I may not be able to kill you but neither can you stop me. I am stronger and more powerful that you can possible imagine and I will soon spawn a army of creatures all as strong as I. You will live, but in a dead world – a world that I rule. All that you love, all that you want – I will destroy and that I think is better that me killing you."

Harry screamed at him and levelled the staff towards the creature. He drew from the depths of his magic and the staff exploded into a rainbow of colours that hit the creature in the chest. Like earlier when Remus died, a massive hole appeared organs, flesh and skin dissolving. However unlike earlier the Creature just laughed and slowly, like a time-lapse film the hole sealed up and once more the creature was whole again. Harry fell to his knees, the staff leaving his numb hand and rolling across the floor. It came to a halt at the feet of the Creature who bent down and picked it up. He looked at the priceless artefact and then with a snap of his hand he snapped the staff in two. There was a brief flare of magical light and then nothing. The Creature threw the two useless pieces away where they hit the ground; dead and broken. He slowly walked over to Harry who was on his knees, broken and defeated.

"And so it ends. I think I will keep you as a plaything; killing you over and over again for fun. You will keep me fed for millennia. For now however it's time for you to suffer the same fate as your whore, not that it will kill you." He raised his sword and paused for a while.

"Any last words Potter? It's not like you to be so quiet."

Harry had seen some movement out of the corner of his eye whilst the Creature was speaking. Hermione's body was glowing and the head had already dissolved into a cloud of sparkling light. The body soon followed and the two clouds of sparkling light merged and quickly reformed into a whole, naked body. Hermione's opened her eyes and with a thought she was dressed once more in her Basilisk armour. She stood and raised her Ravenclaw wand and flung a spell at the creature. It hit him on the shoulder, separating his sword arm from his body, which fell to the floor with a clang.

Harry looked up at the startled Creature and smiled. "Oh yeah, she's immortal too...did I forget to mention it!" With a shout he jumped to his feet and reached out his hand. The two halves of the staff of Merlin flew to him and as he caught them they re-formed into one.

"We may not be able to kill you, but we can defeat you together." He yelled as the battle once more began, this time with the two teens fighting as one. The creature was hit with spell after spell and soon was on the retreat. However it wasn't all going Harry and Hermione's way. No matter what they tried they could banish Ron and they were soon panting for breath. They cast one last spell at the same time as the Creature and both parties were flung away, both landing in exhausted heaps. There was silence, only broken by the sounds of heavy breathing from both parties. It was in this lull that it happened. Unnoticed by anyone, Luna had broken free of the shields that the Aurors were casting and calmly walked over to her two friends. Despite the cries from Ginny and Molly she walked past the Creature and knelt down next to Harry and Hermione.

"You cannot win you know. Whatever you throw at him, he uses to become more powerful. There is only one way to stop this and it's not your task but mine. This is what I was born to do but I will miss you both. Know that I love you both and my time with you has been the happiest of my life. You need to shield everyone or else they will all die...Remember me!" she told them before kissing them both hard on the lips.

"Luna..no!" Harry began but she just pressed her finger to his mouth.

"I have to do this, it's the only way." And she stood and walked over to the struggling Creature. It looked up and saw something that no one else could see and fear was suddenly etched onto its face.

"No...it's not possible...NOOOO stop!" he pleaded.

Luna just smiled and began to glow. As a Soul goddess she had the power to restore a soul, and this is what she was doing to the creature. However in order for this to happen she had to sacrifice her own, after all the balance had to be maintained. The destruction of her own soul would render any creature without one the same way that she was going. With a last look at her two friends she outstretched her arms to the sky and yelled at the top of her voice "FATHER!" Two things happened more or less at the same time. The first was a glowing shield suddenly appeared over the people watching, this shield was far stronger than any the Aurors had created and it the centre of it stood the two immortals with tears streaming down both faces. The second thing that happened was Luna exploded with the force of a small nuclear explosion. The light was blinding and the entire top of the Ministry building was vaporised as a large column of pure light shot to the heavens. All over London and beyond people stopped to stare at the spectacle. With an eerie scream accompanied by a scream of pure rage as the Creature suffered the same fate the light shot upwards, deep into the solar system where it exploded, lighting up the night sky with the intensity of a small star. Slowly the light faded and in what was left of the Ministry building people slowly realised that they were still alive. The room was a total mess and in the centre was a deep crater. The sides were smooth like molten glass and it made odd pinging sounds as it cooled. Harry and Hermione had fallen to the floor barely conscious and the shield they had created popped out of existence. They held each other as they contemplated the loss of the vivacious and odd Vampire. Their friend was dead, more than dead – her soul cast to the heavens in order so she could destroy the evil that had existed. They slowly hauled themselves to their feet; their immortality healing and rejuvenating them at a rapid rate. There was no sense of victory as they slowly walked to the edge of the crater. However balance had been maintained for in the exact centre of the crater lay a naked and small figure of a red-haired boy about ten years of age. He slowly moved and finally raised his head.

"Mum?" he asked. Seeing the two teens he smiled. "Hi, I'm Ron Weasley; do you know where my mum is? Where are we for that matter..." he looked at Harry oddly. "Do I know you?"

"RON!" came a cry as Molly Weasley slid down the slippery edges of the crater to embrace her confused and much younger that he should be son.

Hermione looked at the scene with tear laden eyes. It was finally over; they could rebuild and live their lives in peace. Even Ron had been restored to them. But the price?

She took Harry hand and they both looked up to the slowly dimming skies.

"Goodbye Luna, sleep well." Harry muttered as Hermione cried on his shoulder.


	38. Epilogue Part 1

**Epilogue part one – Nineteen hundred years later.**

Hermione screamed and swore at her husband as he held her hand.

"Hey, that hurts love." He moaned.

"That fucking hurts? You try pushing a entire human through your fanny, then you can complain about it hurting." She yelled at him. It was always the same Harry thought. This was their twentieth child and possible to be their last. The pain of loss was just too difficult to bear anymore. However Hermione swore like a sailor with every birth but always would have the baby naturally, despite whatever pain killing measure was currently on offer. This time she had refused the usual internal teleport that was offered and so an android midwife had to be created as natural birth was almost unheard of in this time.

#Now dear, push dear, push!# the android intoned in its pleasant if artificial voice.

"Fuck off you metal idiot, I am fucking pushing!" Hermione growled at the metal nurse they had nicknamed 'Poppy'. They were currently living in the old castle that used to be Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The current school was nearby, only a few hundred yards away from the castle but was a much more modern purpose built offering. The Potters had made the old castle their current home and along with their large and extensive family, that included the now very old but still happy Charlotte, they lived and loved as always.

As Hermione rested between contractions, Harry thought back to the last nineteen hundred years that had passed since the day Luna had defeated the creature. Immediately following the battle the Wizarding world had been in turmoil. They still had a publically elected leader but no Ministry from which to lead from. Whilst a new building was prepared the school had been used as an interim Ministry.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Kingsley had been true to his word and changes were quickly taking place. The time of the pureblood was over and nearly everyone had felt that it was a good change. There were off course a few discontents, but the new Auror force quickly quashed them. Viktor Krum had been finally persuaded to accept the role of head of the DMLE, and along with his new wife had quickly filled the ranks of Aurors to create a magical police force that everyone was proud of. The new Ministry building was been constructed outside of London on a new site that would be easier to build on in secret and would also allow for a much larger complex more suited to the new Ministry's needs. One of Kingsley's first new laws was allowing for the first time in years, Goblins the right to own land and to build in places other than Gringotts. As side effect of this was they offered their immense building experience to the Ministry and offered a loan for the costs at a much reduce interest rate. The upshot of this was the new Ministry building was flying up and would be completed within a few months.

The rebuilding of Hogsmeade was complete and work had started on the new post graduation collage that Harry and Hermione had financed. It was expected to be complete for the start of the September school year and enrolment was going well. Harry and Hermione had moved into the Potter Manor and Emma was now happily living in the cottage. She had agreed that after the birth of her baby, she would teach a muggle studies course at the school, as the current one was woefully out of date.

On a more personal level however, both Harry and Hermione were struggling with the loss of Luna. They hadn't realised how much the young vampire had meant to them and the lack of a body had meant that there was no funeral. They did hold a memorial event and there was a statue of their friend in the new memorial garden in the grounds of Hogwarts. They often could be found sat in the garden talking quietly to themselves as Hermione's pregnancy progressed. Tonks was an often companion as she slowly got over the death of her husband. His grave was next to the war heroes in the garden and would often have Teddy say next to it on a coloured blanket with his mother quietly playing with him. Of course not everything was sad, the new youngest Weasley was a delight and had none of the jealously and surliness of his evil counterpart. In fact he was more like the twins in nature and both Harry and Hermione shuddered to think what he would get up to when he finally went to the school. Ron himself could not remember anything about what had befallen him. As far as he was concerned nothing had happened and was quite upset when he was finally told. He had tried to apologise both the Harry and Hermione for all that had happened to them as well as the death of Luna, but as Hermione had pointed out, none of that was done by him so no apology was needed.

Ginny had struggled a little with the re-birth as everyone was calling it of Ron. She had always been the youngest, the baby of the family and as much as it occasionally annoyed her she also enjoyed the attention that came with it. Now however she was not the youngest anymore and initially found this difficult, but what with the love of Neville and the fact that Ron was so pleasant to be around she soon found herself falling for her baby brother's charms. Neville had her married just before September in a small but happy ceremony at the Burrow. Harry had been the best man and Hermione one of the two bridesmaids.

On the 31st October, James Sirius Potter was born much to the delight of the Wizarding world. He was a happy and healthy eight pound bundle of energy, inheriting his father's green eyes but his mothers brown hair. As the years progressed, both Harry and Hermione took up teaching the younger generation, both at Hogwarts and as the Post-grad school. James grew older and after ten years was joined by a little sister that they named Emma Francis Potter. Both James and his slightly older uncle Daniel were fascinated with the little baby, and the small family thrived.

It was only as more years passed that Harry and Hermione's immortality became more apparent. As is the way of things friends and family slowly grew old and passed on to the next journey. First to leave them was Minerva McGonagall, headmistress right to the end, then followed by a tired Emma Granger. Hermione had grieved for weeks upon the loss of her mother, but slowly she realised that Emma was now re-united with her father and she took comfort from this fact. Molly, Arthur, and then their younger friends began to pass. When finally James died, he was one hundred and seventy four years old. He was surrounded by his family, his own son, and his granddaughter was present as well as his parents not looking a day older than their mid twenties.

As he breathed his last he looked at his parents with a smile and thanked them for all that they had done; told them not to grieve too much and with that he was gone. Both Harry and Hermione vowed never to have any more children after that, the pain of loss too much to bear, but as the years passed and the hurt healed more children were born. It was a funny thing, but the Potter family were always small. If they had a son, he would only ever have one son of his own and the rest of his children would be daughters. If they had a daughter she would give her chosen husband many sons, and so the family name remained small. They had always meant to name one of their daughters after Luna, who they still thought about but every daughter that was born to them, none of them 'felt' like a Luna and so the name was never used.

The Wizarding world grew and finally after four hundred years the Muggle world became aware of its magicals neighbours. The catalyst for this was another Dark Lord that had tried to re-kindle the beliefs of Voldemort. He was quite powerful and had inadvertently exposed the magical world to the bigger world that encompassed it. Harry and Hermione had finally defeated this latest threat but the cat was out of the bag so to speak. To everyone's eternal surprise the exposure did not create the problems that everyone expected. The Muggle world's technology had moved on so much that magic was just accepted as one of those things. The two worlds lived side by side for a few decades before the walls that still existed finally fell and the two worlds became one. This was helped by mans first forays into deep space, and it's colonisation of other worlds. This was in part due to a discovery by Hermione that apparition could also help with inter-stellar travel and Magicals became a important part of this new wave of mankind. After the next few hundred years or so, the Galactic Federation was created with man living on over a hundred worlds throughout the galaxy. Just over a hundred years later, Hogwarts was moved brick by brick from the dying planet Earth to its new home. A small planetoid was to be the galactic seat of magical learning and was just named Hogwarts. The school, its ethos and magic, as well as all the ghosts survived the journey intact and the planet became a busy seat of learning.

After many years Charlotte had finally decided to join Cassie as the school guardians and allowed her mortal body to die. She was now in charge of the post grad building that had also moved as well as the city sized library that had also been built, whilst Cassie remained in charge of the regular school.

Harry and Hermione had occasionally needed to travel to suppress the latest Dark lord or Lady that would occasionally spring up. It seemed that evil never died, and they pair became known as saviours of many planets and the name Potter was very well respected. Still a small family, its members often tried to lead humble but worthwhile lives; often as healers or teachers as well as the occasional politician. The immortal pair tried as well to live as quiet as life as possible and often many decades would pass when they were never seen or heard from. However when the Federation needed them, they would appear and then fade away once more.

Over the years that passed Harry and Hermione would occasionally encounter a familiar soul. It seemed that life would sometime allow a soul that had passed once before, to make another journey through life. These souls of their dead friends did not recognise either immortal, except for a passing sense of friendship and familiarity. They often made good friends with the couple and both Harry and Hermione took comfort from the friendships. However despite all the years that past, they never encountered the soul that had once been a young blonde Vampire.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Harry was brought back to present day from his musings by a scream from his wife as she finally gave birth to their latest and possibly last child. They had not meant to have another, but one day eight months ago Hermione had discovered that she once more pregnant. Her last child's granddaughter was the only close family nearby and she was in her nineties so both parents were pleased if not a little surprised that their usually infallible contraception charms had failed. The other odd thing about this pregnancy was twofold. First Hermione was usually very unwell with morning sickness on all her other pregnancies; something to do with her immense magical core been in flux. And second this pregnancy resisted all attempts to sex the child.

'Poppy' took the child that was strangely quiet and cleaned it up before telling the waiting parents that this child was a girl. The android cut the cord and wrapped the latest Potter in a warm blanket before handing the child to its waiting parents.

Hermione took the child and both she and Harry leaned over the look at their new daughter. The little baby was quite and calm and to the surprise of both parents had pale blonde, slightly dirty looking hair. Hermione looked at Harry in surprise, all their past children had been dark haired even at birth. Looking back down they were further astonished when the child opened her eyes and startling purple eyes looked back. The child smiled and opened her mouth in a little laugh and despite only been a few minutes old and having no other teeth, two small fangs grew from the little ones mouth.

Both Harry and Hermione were stunned. They looked at each other and then back at the giggling baby.

"Luna?" they asked together. The baby laughed and smiled at her parents, an immortal vampire born of immortal parents.


	39. Epilogue Part 2

**Epilogue two – nineteen thousand years later**

The young girl ran out of her domicile and down the purple grass fields beyond her mother's garden. Young Emily Potter was finally allowed out of the house after the immense battle that had taken place only a few days ago. As she ran she looked up and saw the immense hospital starship high in the sky as well as small fighter craft flying around it.

She was the only child of the planets governor, Ronald Potter a distant member of the famous Potter family that helped found the Federation. This was a relatively newly colonised world, deep out in the galactic rim, but after the discovery of Tricite, a rare and valuable mineral needed to help power the translocation engines of the great starship's that ploughed the galactic highways, it had become a rich and strategically important world.

Her father was a fair and just ruler, democratically elected by its people for a four term of office, but only a few months ago the planets wealth and importance had attracted the wrong sort of attention.

A new Dark Lord, calling himself and claiming to be the re-incarnation of Voldemort had risen and had tried to take the entire planet hostage. He claimed that magical travel was the preserve of magicals only, despite the fact that it was the Magic Core that provided the personal that helped to power the translocation engines. Voldemort had built up a small army that took the world by force and terrorised its non-magical residents.

The Galactic Federation had tried to fight back, but Voldemort had equipped his followers fighter ships with Kedavra weapons that cut threw shields like they weren't there. Many ships had been lost and many had died. Her father had finally managed to contact the rest of the family and they had sent word to Hogwarts. Two days ago, three people had suddenly appeared in Voldemort's palace and after a long battle had finally managed to kill the would-be Dark Lord.

The trio had then refused any award but had come to speak to her father personally. Emily was ecstatic to be present as her father shook the hands with the almost legendary Harry Potter, his wife Hermione and their daughter Luna. She was even happier when Harry had grinned at her and winked cheekily at her. He looked so young she thought and Hermione and Luna so pretty. If the rumour were correct Luna was the only remaining Vampire, but unlike the stories of old she had a soul, and a beautiful one at that.

The Potters had stayed the evening and enjoyed a lovely meal cooked by their androids, but Harry had said that they needed to get back to Hogwarts as term was due to start soon. As they walked down the pathway Harry had bent down and personally handed Emily her Hogwarts letter, telling her that he would see her at school when term started.

After checking with her father she had ran out of the house to wave the trio off. As she rounded the hill she could see the trio in the distance. They all began to glow and with a flash disappeared. Emily stood and watched as from behind the hill three large phoenixes flew for the first time ever in the sky of her home planet and she waved madly at them.

Luna laughed in her parents head as they flew through the virgin skies.

 _#Think we made a friend.#_ she thought.

 _#Yeah, she is a powerful one and will be fun to teach.#_ Hermione thought back.

 _#I guess you two want to fly a bit? I'll see you at home.#_ Luna thought as she intergalactic apparated home.

Harry flew next to his wife in silence for a moment as they watched the girl running around the field waving at them happily.

 _#Was it worth it love?#_ Hermione asked him.

 _#Yeah, it was. We have Luna and each other forever.#_

 _#Forever my love, I'm all yours and I always will be..._ _ **Immortally yours**_ _!#_

And with a flash they both vanished back to Hogwarts and home.

The End.


End file.
